Heal claims it has had 10,000 customers since its launch last year, who use its app to order house calls.
Heal, a healthcare startup that provides a doctor house call on-demand service, has raised $26.9 million in a Series A round just one year following the official launch of the business, according to a news release. The new funding is intended to support the expansion of the business beyond California, product development and to support collaboration opportunities with Medicare and Medicaid, CEO and Co-founder Nick Desai said in a phone interview.
Tull Investment Group, one of its original investors, led the Series A. Breyer Capital, Qualcomm Executive Chairman Paul Jacobs as well as Hashtag One, March Capital Partners, and Slow Ventures also took part in the round. It follows a $5 million seed round raised last year. To date, the company has raised $40 million.
Since its launch, Heal has expanded its direct-to-consumer model through partnerships with insurers such as Blue Shield of California, Anthem Blue Cross of California, Cigna Healthcare, Aetna and United Healthcare. These collaborations allow Heal to charge members of these plans an in-network co-pay in exchange for access to its physicians from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days per week. Heal charges a $99 fee for customers not covered by these plans.
The company claims it has treated 10,000 patients to date, the press release said.
The business is available in California cities including San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County, Silicon Valley, and San Francisco.
Although Lyft and Uber have shown interest in moving into healthcare, they don’t exactly compete with companies like Heal since they’re more interested in transporting patients to appointments, such as seniors. Pager would seem like a closer competitor. The doctor-on-demand service has steadily built alliances with Walgreens, New York Presbyterian Hospital and Evolution Health, a healthcare staffing agency. Pager has also diversified its services to offer virtual and in-person care at home.
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.
Heal is available for an in-network co-pay or an all-inclusive $99 fee. Licensed physicians are available seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., for anything a patient might require during a traditional office visit.
