First Stop Health, a telemedicine company that serves employers, has raised $2.1 million seed investment from angel investors and family offices to expand its pool of physicians. The Chicago-based company provides telemedicine services for non emergency issues.
Several family offices and angel investors from the Midwest and Texas took part in the seed round as well as co-founders Patrick Spain and Dr. Mark Friedman. Among new investors participating in the round were several technology entrepreneurs and a European investment group, according to the statement. It has raised a total of $5.6 million to date.
The company claimed that it tripled sales last year, partly because it set up a proprietary physician network. First Stop Health said it would use the new funding to enhance that network, expand sales and marketing, and build technology enhancements around its physician, client and member platforms.
The company targets employers with staff numbers of 50 to 2,000. It seeks to capitalize on two trends in healthcare: improving access to physicians while reducing unnecessary visits to the doctor by responding to queries by phone. Users leave a message summarizing their health problem and the call is returned within a few minutes.
Photo: Flickr user uditha wickramanayaka
