In 2007, what did Series A venture investments reveal about the state of the health care industry? It was very healthy, thank you. There were quite a few deals to choose from, and numbers demonstrated continued growth in diagnostics fundraising, a resurgence in vaccines, and evidence of pharma's interest in proof-of-concept projects and large-molecule platforms. Medical device investors, meanwhile, remain enamored with concept companies seeking to blend electronics-such as neurostimulation or miniature sensors-with devices.

With a microfluidics platform designed for cell biology, the founders of Incept BioSystems realized that they had the opportunity to improve the quality of embryos destined for in vitro fertilization. IVF represents a great first market for a small medtech company; and larger markets in cell therapy loom ahead for Incept.

The infertility market has historically been dominated by drugs. There have been few product opportunities on the medtech side, which has consisted of commodity products like syringes, petri dishes and microscopes. But that is changing; recently several new companies have been founded with technologies to improve the success rates of in vitro fertilization. VCs have also come to realize that infertility represents a premium, self-pay market for elective procedures.

A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current, all-profiles issue of Start-Up. This month's profile groups are "Start-Ups in Obesity," "New Technologies for Infertility," and "New Zealand Biotech." Plus these Start-Ups Across Health Care: Intelect Medical, N Spine, and Solace Pharmaceuticals.