A health IT content provider combines several aspects of health IT content such as patient communities, medical queries for healthcare professionals,videos on healthcare topics and a symptom checker in one package has raised $2.15 million in a series A financing round. Welltok is also looking for partners with a product or service that could be integrated with its content.
Industry: Health IT
Location: Denver, Colorado
Solution/Product: The company has a social networking health channel called Café Well that takes a multimedia approach to healthcare information. It provides reference tools like a health encyclopedia, drug checker, and symptom checker. There’s an anonymous q&a for users to query health experts and coaches for advice privately. It has public and private patient communities. It also lets users write and read health and wellness blogs about health and wellness experiences. Users can watch videos on selected health and wellness topics and earn reward points for setting and reaching wellness goals. It’s also seeking partners to use Cafe Well with their own businesses.
Money Raised: $2.15 million in a Series A round.
Investors: Okapi Venture Capital and Miramar Venture Partners, according to CB Insights. Nine investors took part in the financing round according to the Form D filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Management team: The company has four co-founders. Jeff Margolis, the chairman, is the former senior vice president and chief information officer of FHP International Corp., a $4 billion healthcare company that operated health plans, specialty physician clinics and hospitals, with more than 2 million members and patients, according to WellTok’s website. Its president, Scott Rotermund, was vice president of sales at financial technology firm Metavante Technologies, where he managed national accounts and built business strategy within its healthcare solutions group. The firm was acquired by Fidelity National Information Services in 2009. John DiBiasi, the chief technology officer, was director of product development and chief information officer at PSI. Jeff Cohen, who serves as the chief strategy officer, previously worked as vice president of product development and product strategy at The Trizetto Group, where he identified and delivered consumer solutions for the managed care sector.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Market Opportunity: The company straddles a few different health IT segments. Its interactive networking component, is something that some companies are offering on a national basis like HealthTap and on a more regional, intimate basis like with Sherpaa Health. Companies are betting that this information will improve patient engagement and make patient interaction with their healthcare professionals more meaningful
