Startups, Telemedicine

Chicago-based telemedicine provider raises $6.5 million

The First Stop Health funding round was led by Morningstar Chairman and Founder Joe Mansueto and Rich Gallun, the co-founder of employee benefits platform bswift.

telemedicine, telehealth, telecare, doctor, technology

First Stop Health, a Chicago, Illinois-based telemedicine startup serving the employer market, has raised $6.5 million in equity financing to accelerate company growth.

The funding round was led by Morningstar Chairman and Founder Joe Mansueto and Rich Gallun, the co-founder of employee benefits platform bswift. Since its founding in 2011, First Stop Health has raised a total of $14.2 million.

First Health is focused on low-acuity health events and targets small and medium sized companies as customers and touts its ability to control health costs for companies by diverting costly emergency room visits and unnecessary clinic visits.

“With rapid annual revenue growth, this investment capital allows us to further our vision of transforming the patient healthcare experience,” First Stop CEO Patrick Spain said in a statement. “Our clients embrace our service model, which gives members a simple, frictionless experience to access care within minutes of when they need it.”

Mirroring the larger provider ecosystem, the large number of telemedicine provider startups have started to consolidate with larger players like TeleDoc, InTouch Health, American Well and MDLive acquiring smaller competitors to pick up new market share and expand their features and capabilities.

A few recent deals illustrating the trend include Austin, Texas-based Medici purchasing fellow Texas startup Chiron Health, American Well snapping up acute care telehealth provider Avizia last year and Curavi’s acquisition of telemedicine company TripleCare.

Photo: IAN HOOTON, Getty Images

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