The billion-dollar startups revolutionizing healthcare you should be watching in 2018

Anne Wojcicki

There was no shortage in funding for healthcare and biotech startups in 2017.

By the end of the year, a new crop of unicorns were born, while others increased their already billion-dollar valuations.

From companies harnessing the plant microbiome to buzzy biotechs working on cutting-edge technology, here are the unicorns to keep an eye on in 2018, ranked by valuation.

Unless otherwise noted, valuations are according to PitchBook.

DON'T MISS: Nutrition experts ranked the best diets to try in 2018 — here are the top 11

15. Flatiron Health — $1.2 billion

Flatiron Health, a New York-based healthcare technology startup, collects clinical data from cancer patients — such as what medications patients have taken and how they have responded to them.

The hope is that with that information, healthcare professionals can have a better idea of how cancer drugs work in the "real world" — in hospitals and cancer centers — as opposed to during clinical trials. The company has partnered with the Food and Drug Administration over this data, which could one day influence how we treat cancer.

The company most recently raised $175 million in January 2016.

14. Clover Health — $1.2 billion

The venture-backed Clover Health sells Medicare Advantage health-insurance plans. When seniors in the US turn 65, they can choose to be part of either traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage, which is operated through private insurers like Clover and often provides additional healthcare benefits. The hope for Clover and other technology-based health insurers is to use data to improve patients' health.

In January, CNBC reported that the company had hit some rough patches, including upsetting patients and missing financial targets.

Founded in 2014, the company most recently raised $130 million in May.

13. Auris Surgical Robotics — $1.28 billion

The surgical-robotics company has been relatively quiet about its work in relation to its valuation.

"We are developing targeted, minimally invasive therapies that treat only the diseased cells in order to prevent the progression of a patient's illness," the company said on its website. To start, the company is going after lung cancer.

The company most recently raised $280 million in August.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider