Wellness and Health Services Industry Report 2H 2026

• Driven by AI-enhanced capabilities, healthcare services are finding new ways to manage patient interactions, diagnose and solve medical issues, and engage through patient services while adapting to new challenges.
  
• Automation, including precise robotic-assisted surgeries, are filling a gap in trained practitioners while interactive technologies are building efficiencies and eliminating redundancies while speeding procedures that used to demand time consuming personal attention.
  
• Consumers are rethinking their wellness routines, refocusing on health, and reimagining the foods they consume, shaped in part on a revised food pyramid and new ways of understanding nutrition and healthy diets. These changes are reflected at both the producer and retail levels.

It’s hard to think of another sector that’s more a part of every human’s daily life than wellness and healthcare services. Maybe food production. The two basics of life: eating and staying healthy. Healthcare services alone – both fixing us when we break and checking in on our bodies to make sure we’re OK – make up a $9 trillion global annual market, with North America alone responsible for 39% of that spend. And the wellness part – prevention, exercise, supplements, mental health care, and nutrition – made up another nearly $7 trillion (at the end of 2024, the latest number available). And this whole picture is dynamic. Nothing stays the same. New drugs, new therapies, new food trends, and new discoveries seem to fill our news feeds daily. ¹ ²

In healthcare, we’re repeatedly challenged by new disease outbreaks such as the African outbreak of Ebola, the COVID pandemic, the cruise ship hantavirus outbreak, the Zika virus, and mpox. And each challenge drives innovation, pushes medical discoveries further, and attracts both attention and investment. The unrelenting march of AI is finding new uses inside care, providing early diagnosis, scanning x-rays and brain scans, redeploying ambulances across cities for maximum efficiency, administrative record management, and chatbot patient assistance. Robotics are working their way into everyday surgical procedures, in many cases reducing recovery time and complications, blood loss, postprocedural pain, and length of hospital stays. Tech billionaire Elon Musk has predicted by 2030 there will be more of his company’s Optimus robot surgeons than there are surgeons on earth. We’ll see. ³ ⁴ ⁵ ⁶

Tech, new trends, and reshaped guidelines continue to drive wellness demands as well, nothing, not even eating, is as simple as it once seemed. We’ve seen something as basic as the old “food pyramid” challenged to the advent of digital wearables monitoring our vital signs and even mental health and sleep. The popularity of GLP-1 weight loss drugs has consumers chasing Greek yogurt and protein supplements. Entrepreneurs and investors dare not sleep on the trends. Not even sleep: A “sleepcation” is now a thing, and the hospitality industry is leaning into the demand. ⁷ ⁸ ⁹ ¹⁰

The “care” part of healthcare is facing a people problem. A digital solution may fill the gaps. The shortage of doctors, nurses, and support staff is now the top challenge facing care providers. An aging workforce and clinician burnout are taking a toll. AI, robotics, and system automations are being investigated ways to fill the care gap. In 2025, the American Hospital Association found 90% of hospital and life sciences workers use using AI in some capacity. Innovators are rushing to fill the needs: Boston Hospital Mass General Brigham has partnered with MIT to develop an AI tool known as Sybil which can predict lung cancer risk from a single low-dose chest CT scan; another company developed ProvARIA, an AI tool that prioritizes patient voice messages and helps medical staff respond; and for anyone who has ever stayed in a hospital and been awakened regularly for vitals checks, Houston Methodist Hospital is using BioButton, an AI-driven monitoring device that sends vitals continuously through a centralized virtual monitoring module to reduce patient disruptions. ¹¹ ¹²

The use of robotics in what are called “robotic-assisted surgery” – since a human surgeon is still involved – has been on the rise over the past 10 years, most commonly in by colorectal surgeons, gynecologists, urologists, gastrointestinal surgeons, and cardiothoracic surgeons. Common uses include appendectomies, gallbladder surgery, hernia repair, and valve repair. Proponents say the use of robotics not only aids in accuracy it can keep aging surgeons in the game longer, reducing the need to stand for hours during complex procedures and allowing them to sit instead at a control module, or even sitting a miles away via “telesurgery,” a benefit when a patient is nowhere near a much-needed specialist. ¹³ ¹⁴

The global surgical robotics market size was estimated atabout $12.5 billion last year and is predicted to eclipse $50 billion by 2035, a 15% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Robotic-assisted surgery has been around in some form for the past four decades. But on the horizon, looking ahead, we may see fully automated robotic surgery. There are some saying that’s coming. The stuff of sci-fi movies no more. ¹⁵ ¹⁶

Robotics is just one part of the wave of ongoing technical innovations in medicine. At Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai hospital patients log into an AI-powered app before an appointment and answer a series of questions, with an algorithm digging deeper when warranted, to create a summary for the doctor. This eliminates general “chat time” while a doctor tries to get a feel for what’s going on, allowing the physician to devote more time to the root problem. Telehealth, thrust into the spotlight during the COVID pandemic, continues to expand its niche, especially for non-English speakers who can use a translation function to eliminate confusion, and for patients who live far from their doctor’s office. Remote vital signs monitoring allows physicians to collect data from wearable devices transmitted via the cloud, digitally analyzing that flow of data to spot problems before they become severe. ¹⁷ ¹⁸ ¹⁹

Investors are recognizing the work of those driving healthcare tech solutions, creating opportunities both for founders to scale or exit and also for investors as digital platform evolution appears inevitable. In June, Iowa-based OpenLoop – a telehealth infrastructure platform for organizations developing virtual care solutions – acquired Hey Revia, an AI voice and communication platform that automates healthcare operations including insurance verification and pharmacy coordination and provides patient communications solutions. Hey Revia’s co-founders will stay on with OpenLoop in engineering roles. Earlier in 2026, OpenLoop joined a partnership developing a remote patient monitoring program to help pharmacists monitor prescription users for side effects between doctor visits. ²⁰

Fitness and wellness fads come and go. They have for decades. Whether it’s paleo or keto or the cabbage soup or grapefruit diets (anyone for some 1990s-era fat free WOW chips and Snackwells?) And then there were the exercise fads: Jazzercize, Zumba, Tae Bo, and the Jane Fonda Workout … well, she’s 88 now, maybe she was on to something. ²¹ ²²

We’re watching for, and retailers are tracking and reacting to, today’s newest trends including a rush to protein, a revamped food pyramid that emphasizes meat and dairy, the impact of weight loss drugs that really work, fitness wearables outside medical capacities, and AI-powered fitness apps. Different names, different approaches, same goals: people want to be healthy. ²³ ²⁴ ²⁵ ²⁶

The use of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss in the U.S. is up more than 250% in just two years. The polling service Gallup reported this summer some 11% of Americans say they are using the drug, up from 3% in 2024. In food production and sales it has sparked a rush to protein. Consumer packaged goods are being relabeled as GLP-1 friendly. We’ve seen everything from protein bagels made of Greek yogurt to high protein pizza with a chicken meat crust. Producers are leaning into the “better for you” quest we’ve seen in the past, but it’s evolving. Protein and so-called “fibermaxxing” are pushing producers to adapt and meet consumer wellness demands. A global rush to inject protein into everything from Pop Tarts to potato chips has led to nearly 39,000 U.S. grocery products boasting about its protein content, creating a global shortage of protein-rich whey powder. The price of wholesale whey protein concentrate is up 250% over last year. ²⁷ ²⁸ ²⁹ ³⁰ ³¹ ³²

Outside the grocery store, nutraceuticals are attracting attention (U.S. based Bain Capital recently made a reported $1 billion bid for British supplement maker Vitabiotics and its U.K., Indian, and Chinese markets). Wellness travel, the practice of travel with the intentional focus on health and wellbeing, is expected to be a $1.4 trillion global market by the end of the decade riding a 9% CAGR. Fitness trainers are finding renewed interest in fitness, but with a new focus on strength, longevity, workouts enhanced by wearables and AI, and an understanding of how everything fits together holistically, including physical workouts, diet, and sleep. ³³ ³⁴ ³⁵

A recent study by the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company found 84% of Americans say their own wellness is an important or even top priority in their lives. And they’re willing to spend on it. That makes for an attractive market. ³⁶

• In April, global surgical robotics maker Stereotaxis, based in St. Louis, announced a bid to acquire the French surgical robotics company Robocath. The deal, valued at up to $45 million, closed in the opening weeks of 2H26. The companies said the addition of Robocath to Stereotaxis will foster development of next-gen robotic technologies for delicate surgeries including cardiac procedures. The deal included a $20 million payment up front to be followed with payments of up to $25 million based on regulatory and commercial milestones. ³⁷
  
  
• Bio Essence Corporation, a California health and wellness provider focused on personalized digital health solutions, in April acquired the MediFlow AI platform from Hong Kong-based Zhituo Software in a $3.5 million all stock deal. The MediFlow AI platform provides data-driven wellness and lifestyle solutions. Bio Essence CEO Yin Yan said with the acquisition, “We are positioning ourselves at the forefront of the digital wellness industry.” Bio Essence is a small, publicly traded company that offers an AI-driven online platform supporting telemedicine and personalized nutrition as well as in-person wellness clinics. ³⁸
  
• In February, life sciences firm Danaher acquired AI-enabled pulse oximeter maker Masimo for nearly $10 billion as Danaher works to build its diagnostics portfolio. Danaher, which makes tools and tech to help drug companies develop new medicines, is expanding into patient-monitoring products amid continuing uncertainty surrounding drug pricing, declining research grant funding, and tariff policies. Danaher already markets invasive radiometer blood analyzing products but is adding Masimo’s non-invasive offerings. Danaher, based in Washington, DC, is a large player in the life sciences field with a publicly traded market cap north of $140 billion. The company has a broad reach in health technology developing products for disease detection and therapeutics, drug therapies, medical software, and gene-editing technologies, among others. ³⁹

There are few conceivable things as essential to all 8.3 billion people on the planet as their health and their wellness. For anyone in the business of keeping people healthy and well, that makes for plenty of potential customers. And the industry is constantly evolving, not only driven by consumer tastes and wants, but by technology and the quest for better services and outcomes. ⁴⁰

Propelled by new AI-powered research capabilities, researchers are chasing down cures to diseases thought incurable and finding ways to combat “superbugs,” germs that have grown immune to current treatments. Scientists are making breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease treatment. Gene therapies to fight heart disease, cancer vaccines, even cellular reprograming that may slow the natural aging process are all out there, being worked on today. Quantum computing, advanced robotics, and nanotechnologies may change healthcare in ways we haven’t imagined. ⁴¹ ⁴² ⁴³ ⁴⁴

Perhaps investors didn’t see the sudden popularity of a drug that could help people lose weight, but they have adapted quickly to the consequences. It remains to be seen what future breakthroughs in science, medicine, home care, and wellness – both physical and mental – will come next. But we are optimistic that innovators will continue to prosper, and investors will find value in each new advance.

Right now, these are the most active buyers we are seeing in the wellness and health services industry.

Additional highlights in the wellness and health services industry.

Year over year data

Recent lower to middle market transactions by SDR Ventures in the wellness and health services sector, including:

Wellness & Health Services may have stolen the national spotlight in recent years, but we have been involved in the industry for well over a decade.

Our experience and drive has placed us at the leading edge of information in the market, giving you an advantage when the time comes to buy, sell or seek investments to grow your business.

Our Wellness & Health Services investment banking expertise includes the following segments:

• Long Term, Behavioral, and Recovery Care
• Outsourced Health Services
• Day & Medical Spas
• Fitness & Active Recreation
• Natural Foods
• Health Products Manufacturing & Distribution
• Digital Health