Wellness startup funding reached unprecedented levels in 2025, with fitness and wellness companies attracting $2 billion across 44 deals. Oura’s $900 million Series E dominated headlines, but even excluding that mega-round, the category saw a 13% funding uptick year-over-year. Function Health, Eight Sleep, and Nourish all secured large raises as investors renewed appetite for direct-to-consumer wellness plays after years of B2B pivots.
This tracker monitors the capital flowing into wellness startups, providing real-time intelligence on rounds, valuations, and investor activity shaping the $6.8 trillion wellness economy.
What Is Wellness Startup Funding?
Wellness startup funding encompasses venture capital, private equity, and angel investments into early and growth-stage companies focused on health, fitness, nutrition, mental wellness, and longevity. This capital fuels product development, market expansion, and technology innovation across the wellness economy. Understanding funding patterns reveals where sophisticated investors see the strongest opportunities.
Major Wellness Startup Funding Rounds (2025-2026)
Several transformative deals reshaped the wellness funding landscape in 2025. These transactions establish valuation benchmarks and signal investor conviction.
| Company | Round | Amount | Valuation | Lead Investor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oura | Series E | $900M | $11B | Fidelity |
| Function Health | Series B | $100M+ | $2.5B | Andreessen Horowitz |
| Recess | Series B | $30M | Undisclosed | CAVU Consumer Partners |
| Fountain Life | Series B | $18M | Undisclosed | EOS Ventures |
| Sandbar (Stream) | Seed | $13M | Undisclosed | True Ventures |
| Sweatpals | Seed | $12M | Undisclosed | Patron / a16z speedrun |
| Lōvu Health | Series A | $8M | Undisclosed | SJF Ventures |
The concentration at the top is notable. Oura’s $900 million commanded nearly half of all fitness and wellness funding in 2025. Mega funds like Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, and Kleiner Perkins each participated in at least five mega deals.
Wellness Startup Funding: Key Trends
Several patterns emerged in 2025 funding activity that will likely continue shaping wellness startup funding in 2026.
AI Commands Premium Valuations
Companies with artificial intelligence capabilities attracted meaningfully larger rounds. Forty-six percent of all healthcare investment flowed to AI-focused companies. Wellness startups using AI for personalization, predictive analytics, and automated coaching secure funding at higher valuations than comparable non-AI competitors.
D2C Returns to Favor
After years of direct-to-consumer companies pivoting to B2B models amid rising customer acquisition costs, investors are cautiously re-entering D2C wellness. Whoop, Oura, Function, Hims, and Superpower all launched D2C lab testing offerings in 2025, signaling renewed confidence in consumer wellness brands.
Longevity Attracts Concentrated Capital
Longevity and healthspan technology saw massive investment increases in 2025, though driven by just three major deals. Excluding outliers, the boost disappears, but the surge may prove durable as Big Pharma discovers metabolic and neurological healthspan benefits of GLP-1s.
Explore the specialized funds driving this sector in our Longevity VC Landscape analysis.
Who Is Investing in Wellness Startups?
The investor landscape for wellness startup funding includes specialized health-focused funds, generalist VCs with healthcare practices, and strategic corporate investors.
Top Wellness Startup Investors (2025)
| Investor | Focus | Notable Deals |
|---|---|---|
| Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) | Generalist / Health | 5+ mega deals |
| General Catalyst | Healthcare | 5+ mega deals |
| Fidelity | Growth equity | Oura Series E lead |
| CAVU Consumer Partners | Consumer wellness | Recess Series B |
| Healthspan Capital | Longevity biotech | Pre-seed to Series A |
Corporate strategic investors are also increasingly active. L’Oréal participated in six transactions globally in 2025, spanning acquisitions, minority stakes, and venture rounds across beauty and wellness.
Wellness Startup Funding by Category
Capital distribution reveals investor preferences across wellness subcategories.
Wearables and Health Tech: Oura’s dominant position illustrates the winner-take-most dynamics in wearables. The company sold 5.5 million rings to date, with over half coming in 2025 alone. Revenue doubled from $500 million in 2024 to over $1 billion in 2025.
Mental Wellness: The U.S. mental wellness market reached $125 billion, dwarfing all other countries. China trails as a distant second at $16 billion. Apps like Calm and Headspace continue scaling, while corporate mental health platforms attract enterprise capital.
Functional Nutrition: Gut health emerged as a dominant theme. Olipop raised at a $1.85 billion valuation, while Poppi was acquired by PepsiCo for $1.95 billion. Prebiotic sodas grew 71.4% year-over-year.
Women’s Health: Midi Health attracted celebrity investors including Amy Schumer, Tory Burch, and Sheryl Sandberg for its $63 million Series B focused on midlife hormonal health.
Tracking celebrity capital? See where stars are deploying wellness dollars in our Celebrity Wellness Investment Portfolios.
Wellness Startup Funding: What’s Coming in 2026
Several categories appear positioned for increased funding activity based on market signals and investor sentiment.
GLP-1 Ecosystem: Weight loss drug adoption creates derivative opportunities in nutrition counseling, body composition monitoring, and metabolic health tracking. Startups addressing GLP-1 users will attract capital.
Personalized Supplements: AI-driven vitamin and supplement customization is gaining traction. UK-based Healf achieved 434% annual growth with personalized wellness routines. Nourished uses AI to produce bespoke gummies.
Recovery Services: Cryotherapy, infrared saunas, and compression therapy concepts are posting unit growth rates not seen in traditional fitness for decades. These models combine membership revenue with high margins.
How to Track Wellness Startup Funding
Investors and industry participants can monitor funding activity through several resources.
Crunchbase: Comprehensive startup funding database with alerts and filtering by sector.
PitchBook: Institutional-grade data on private market transactions and valuations.
Rock Health: Specialized digital health funding reports with quarterly analysis.
HealthyGuru Insider: Weekly newsletter tracking wellness-specific deals and investment trends.
Explore the Complete Investment Series
This article is part of our comprehensive Wellness Industry Investment Guide. Continue your research with related analyses:
- Wellness Brand Valuation Guide (2026) — Multiples and comparables
- Wellness SPAC Analysis (2026) — Public market pathways
- Celebrity Wellness Investment Portfolios — Star-backed deals
- The Longevity VC Landscape — Specialized funds
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