2022 New Zealand Healthtech Insights Report

AUCKLAND, 31 August 2022 – Technology Investment Network (TIN), in association with the Consortium for Medical Device Technologies (CMDT), has today released New Zealand’s second Healthtech Insights Report, offering a deep dive into the country’s largest tech industry sub-sector, Healthcare Technology. 

The report provides a closer look into New Zealand’s healthcare technology sector based on data from TIN’s 2021 survey results, including size and significance, key export markets, investment challenges and opportunities, along with a comprehensive directory of 146 pipeline Healthtech companies -- those from pre-revenue to $3.5m.  

In the 2021 TIN Report, Healthcare was the dominant sector, contributing 20.7% of overall TIN revenue.  

In this year’s Healthtech Report, a total of 22 New Zealand Healthtech firms in the 2021 TIN Report generated a combined $2.9B in revenue – cementing its position as both the largest and fastest-growing secondary sector for the TIN200.  

The sector’s growth of $738m in 2021 accounted for just over half of the total TIN200 growth (51.2%). 

Most of the sector’s revenue comes from Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which generated $1.97B in revenue in its 2021 financial year. This result helped spearhead the domination of the Devices category within the sector, followed by Diagnostics & Therapeutics, and then Digital Health & Health IT.  

“With ageing societies all around the world and the ravages of the Covid 19 pandemic still being felt globally, the need, and desire, for an innovative, forward-thinking Healthtech sector has never been more apparent,” said Greg Shanahan, Managing Director of TIN.  

“Now more than ever, the world needs effective solutions to big health problems. We’re delighted to showcase and celebrate New Zealand’s vibrant, creative Healthtech sector – from the local giants of the ecosystem to the younger companies bringing new thinking and radical new technologies to the world.” 

The 2022 Healthtech Insights Report outlines a promising pipeline of technology companies that spans the breadth of the sector’s categories, and builds on the international success of established New Zealand companies including Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Douglas Pharmaceuticals, Orion Health, AFT Pharmaceuticals and Buckley Systems. 

Diana Siew, Strategic Partnerships Lead at Auckland Bioengineering Institute and Co-Chair of the CMDT, added: 

“What excites me is the research translation and early stage start up space which provides a pipeline of new Healthtech offerings.  

“It’s wonderful to see these emerging companies enter local and export markets and be prominently recognised on the global stage for their excellent products. 

“For example, earlier this year, Healthtech pipeline companies Alimetry and The Clinician were among two of the five winners in Medtronic’s APAC Innovation Challenge, providing a launchpad into the Asia Pacific region. It also opened the door to Medtronic’s panel of advisors who would typically not be accessible to start-ups,” she said. 

TIN200 Healthtech companies generated more than 90.0% of their revenue from exports in 2021, much higher than the 74.5% TIN200 average.   

A key feature of the Healthtech sector is the dominance of the listed companies: Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, AFT Pharmaceuticals, Aroa Biosurgery, Volpara Health Technologies and Pacific Edge. These five public companies’ combined revenue in 2021 was $2.137B, which accounted for 73.9% of the sector’s revenue. 

Key Healthtech sector statistics (taken from the 2022 TIN Healthtech Insights Report, and based on 2021 TIN Report data) 

• 11% of TIN200 companies are Healthtech firms, generating 20.7% of TIN200 revenue
• Three TIN200 Healthtech companies grew their revenues by over 50% in 2021 (Pacific Edge: 100.8%, Volpara Health Technologies 56.3% %, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare 56%)
• Healthtech companies generated $2.9B in revenue with a five-year CAGR of 12.1%
• Global exports of healthcare technology accounted for $2.624B, or 90.8% of revenue
• Healthtech firms recorded export growth of $731.7m, or an increase of 38.7%
• Device companies generated nearly three quarters (74.8%) of TIN200 Healthtech revenue
• Healthtech companies had revenue growth of $738m or 51.2% of TIN200 growth
• Wages and salaries for Healthtech companies account for 32.3% of revenue (TIN200 average: 36.1%)
• Healthtech companies employ 10,451 people globally, with 61.1% of those in New Zealand
• Average Healthtech sector wage is $89,308 – down 0.8% from $90,036 in 2020
• Healthtech companies spent $280.1m on R&D in 2021, or 9.7% of revenue
• North America is the largest offshore market for NZ Healthtech companies, accounting for 37.6% of revenue, followed by Europe which contributes 25.5%
• 13 Auckland-headquartered Healthtech companies generated 91.5% of Healthtech revenue in 2021, or $2.645B. The next largest region is Wellington/Manawatu which has three companies and a total revenue of $108m. 

The Healthtech Insights Report is sponsored by Spark Health, Douglas Pharmaceuticals, Absolute IT, ASX, Callaghan Innovation, Orion Health, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, K1W1, and NZ Growth Capital Partners.