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Venture Capital & The Hottest Trends in Life Science Technology

Categories:
Technology & Innovation

In partnership with NAR REACH, the SIOR Tech Vision Series will unlock the driving forces and emerging trends impacting our industry. We will look into emerging technology trends and shifting industry dynamics to help our industry navigate the future of commercial real estate.

Technology is a phenomenon that has profound implications on the commercial real estate industry. Today's commercial real estate leaders need to prepare themselves for a new normal that will impact their business, their clients, and their organization.

At first glance, biotechnology, or biotech, and commercial real estate don’t seem to have much in common. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Life sciences, including biotech and healthcare tech, have seen a rapid rise in the commercial real estate industry. From occupiers of office space to the acquisitions of buildings, life science companies have been rapidly acquiring space as the industry continues to grow.

In a recent SIOR report, Bringing Life Back into Healthcare Real Estate, the healthcare industry has outperformed market expectations during the pandemic. “Interest in medical office buildings has remained strong. While the operators within the office buildings have had mixed-experiences dealing with COVID-19 lock-downs and shifts in patient behavior, the investors owning the structures have done well,” according to Gabriel Silverstein, SIOR.

As it relates to venture capital and private technology companies, according to data by Crunchbase, year-to-date, $74.7 billion has been invested in life science companies in the United States, with nearly 35% of funding going to early-stage Seed and Series A funded companies.

Here are the leading technologies that are innovating the life science industry based on market trends and venture activity.

Bio Technology

The biotech industry has accelerated at breakneck speed. The pandemic has seen a surge in venture activity while putting a premium on biotech offices and industrial space.

Since 2010, a total of $76 billion has been invested in private biotech companies, with over 4,800 companies receiving funding.

Some of the most funded companies in the biotech space include Resilience, an end-to-end biopharmaceutical manufacturing, and development company. The company has raised a total of $800 million, with $750 million raised in November 2020. Other private companies to innovate the industry include ElevateBio ($845 million in funding), a biotechnology company that specializes in cell and gene-based therapies, EQRx ($700 million in funding), a biotechnology company that focuses on re-engineering the process of drug discovery, Laronde ($490 million in funding), an eRNA-based therapeutic platform that is capable of indicating diverse proteins inside the body, and XtalPi ($786 million in funding), a biotech firm that uses artificial intelligence and computing to accelerate the development of new pharmaceutical drugs.

Healthcare Technology

The healthcare industry has historically been amongst the strongest sectors in terms of venture capital funding. A broad range of technologies, the industry ranges from medical devices and software to wellness and pharmaceuticals.

Since 2010, $97 billion has been invested in private healthcare tech companies, with over 9,500 companies receiving funding.

Some of the most funded companies in the healthcare space include Carestream, a provider of imaging and IT systems for medical and life sciences research. The company has raised a total of $2.4 billion in venture funding. Other private companies to innovate the industry include Verily ($2.5 billion in funding), a developer of tools and devices to collect and analyze health data to research and manage diseases, Noom ($657 million in funding), a psychology-based digital health platform used to provide intelligent nutrition, Ro ($876 million in funding), a telehealth startup that operates digital health clinics, and Olive ($856 million in funding), a developer of an artificial intelligence workforce for the health care industry.

Ashkán Zandieh

Ashkán Zandieh

Ashkán Zandieh is the Chair at the Center for Real Estate Technology & Innovation (creti.org), a global real estate tech research center and think tank, and strategic advisor at NAR REACH. He is the leading expert in commercial real estate tech and venture capital. His research and strategic insights have been sourced by the WSJ, NY Times, Bisnow, Commercial Observer, The Real Deal, and applied by institutional real estate organizations and brokerages, globally.