ANDHealth has released new data revealing a significant gap between burgeoning funding demand and dwindling funding availability in a sector predicted to surpass A$45 billion by 2034 and poised to transform the nation's health and care system.
According to ANDHealth’s FY2026 Industry Sentiment Survey, 92% of digital and connected health SMEs plan to raise growth capital in the next 12 months, and 90% want to expand geographically in the same timeframe (up from 49% in FY2023).
Digital and connected health is one of the fastest-growing health technology segments in Australia, growing at a 55% CAGR since 2018 and nearly doubling in size in the past three years. Globally, the industry is projected to reach US$946 billion by 2030.
Yet despite this high growth potential and clear demand for capital, 86% of SMEs in the Australian sector cited “access to capital” as one of their top five key challenges, up 26% from ANDHealth’s FY2023 survey (60%). The majority (51%) also now ranked access to capital as their single biggest challenge, highlighting the level of funding urgency now facing the industry.
Bronwyn Le Grice, CEO and Managing Director of ANDHealth, said, “This is an alarming signal for a sector that has the ability to transform Australia’s health and care sector to drive patient outcomes and economic benefits.
“Australia has the foundations of an internationally competitive digital and connected health sector, but too many companies are being held back by the settings that determine whether local innovation can reach patients and scale.“
