The "moonshot" movement is the goal of finding a cure for cancer, conceived by former Vice President Joe Biden in a speech at the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center in January 2016 following the loss of his son to brain cancer. The concept has remained popular since, and as such, the year of 2016 was defined by it.

In response to Biden's call, thousands of entrepreneurs, investors and others started to think about the future of healthcare and what things might look like if there was, in fact, a chance to provide answers to a disease like cancer and other abnormalities. Entering this effort was money — lots of it.

More than $8 billion was invested in more than 500 digital health companies in 2016, according to StartUp Health. Along with cash flooding into the startup sector, almost 25 percent of all funding was invested in just five megadeals, made up of many millions of dollars.

Stepping back for a historic view of the investment in the space, 2013 appears to have been the best for inflow of cash with the most early-stage investments at 74 percent of 331 deals. The last three, however, have remained strong financially. Two-thirds of all deals being seed or series A.

Even with the recent change in leadership within the U.S. and any potential healthcare sector uncertainty around the future of the Affordable Care Act, venture capital funding in digital health and health IT is likely to remain strong in 2017. Sector experts suspect that investors will continue to back innovations that attempt to reduce costs, improve access or transform business models.

"The genie's out of the bottle, and regardless of what happens with health reform, there's a wave of activity and a wave of investment into companies that are focusing on those solutions," according to Unity Stoakes, co-founder and president of StartUp Health.

Likewise, other sectors that are likely to maintain strong financial backing are analytics, telemedicine, connected devices, population health, patient engagement and behavioral health, and deal sizes are increasing. Overall, experts predict an increase of 8 percent in $5 million deals; 26 percent increase in $10 million deals; and 7 percent in $25 million deals. Also, four of the six deals above $400 million occurred in 2016, so there's strong proof that the sector is, in fact, financially strong.

The money is coming from investors where you might think: San Francisco, Boston, New York, San Diego, Los Angeles and even Minneapolis, among others.

As Healthcare Dive reports, one trend seen throughout 2016 is "leap forward" innovations — "solutions that dramatically change the business model, workflow or the way patients interact with the healthcare system and how providers spend their time. These types of investors believe that 80 percent of what a physician's doing can be either augmented or replaced by technology so that those providers can focus on what they do best, which is treating patients."

Telemedicine and anything that allows people to access care from home or other sites outside the hospital will continue to attract funding, Stoakes said.

These figures are important because of the changing population metrics expected in the near term. AARP suggests that by 2020 almost 120 million Americans will need some health assistance. Despite this fact, the money invested must pay off: Investors want traction in the companies they back.

While the lure of the moonshot seduces, money will likely continue to flow like a faucet. Until then, perhaps we're headed for the moon.