Despite contraction in the number of funds and VC firms investing in life sciences, 2013 was a strong year for private investing in medtech, with private investors putting $2.54 million into 129 medical device deals, according to Informa’s Strategic Transactions. Looking at where investors placed their money revealed some emerging trends.

Start-up company fundraising got off to a slow start in 2013: life sciences companies brought in $398.7 million, roughly 59% less than in the final quarter of 2012. Of the total raised, 84% went to biopharmas. The majority of start-up alliances were for discovery- or preclinical-stage products and there were four start-up acquisitions for the quarter – three in biopharma and one in the medical device sector.

Derived from Strategic Transactions, Elsevier Business Intelligence’s premium source for tracking life sciences deal activity, the Recent Financings Of Private Companies column provides a comprehensive monthly review of emerging life science companies that have received venture funding, including companies within the In Vitro Diagnostics, Medical Devices, and Pharmaceuticals sectors.

Derived from Strategic Transactions, Elsevier Business Intelligence’s premium source for tracking life sciences deal activity, the Medical Device Deals Update column is a survey of recent medtech M&A, Alliance, and Financing activity.