Health Tech, Startups

Direct-to-consumer startup Thirty Madison targets a new customer: health plans

The startup, which currently has four direct-to-consumer brands, recently passed a $1 billion valuation. It plans to use the funds to market its services to a new customer: health plans. 

As investors continue to pour funds into direct-to-consumer health startups, one of them, Thirty Madison, is looking to win over a new type of customer. 

The startup recently raised $140 million in funding, and plans to use a portion of that to strike partnerships with employers and payers. 

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In an emailed statement, CEO and Co-Founder Steven Gutentag said working with employer and payor networks would allow the company to reach more patients and expand its treatment offerings. The company didn’t disclose which, and how many, partners Thirty Madison currently has. 

“As we add new capabilities to our integrated care platform, we recognize that Thirty Madison doesn’t exist in a vacuum,” he wrote. “We also know that we can’t fully transform how patients manage chronic conditions by ourselves, which is why we’ve reached out to leaders across healthcare.” 

 New York-based Thirty Madison was founded in 2017, and currently has four direct-to-consumer brands. It started with Keeps, for hair loss, and has since added brands for allergies, acid reflux, and more controversially, migraines.  

Like its competitors, the company sells prescription and over-the-counter medications for common conditions. For prescription drugs, patients submit a questionnaire for an online consultation with a physician. 

HealthQuest Capital led the series C round, and notably, Johnson & Johnson, a previous investor, also joined in. In total, it boosted the three-year-old company’s valuation past $1 billion. 

“We’re very impressed with the leadership team’s expertise in creating a consumer-centric platform, and are excited about collaborating with them to deepen the pharma and enterprise verticals of the business and reach even more patients across numerous chronic conditions,” Randy Scott, a partner at HealthQuest, said in a news release. 

He will join the company’s board of directors. 

In the last year, the startup has grown significantly. It tripled its revenue, and has also more than tripled its headcount in the last year, with more than 180 employees. 

But competitors Hims & Hers and Ro have also taken steps to grow their businesses. Earlier this year, Hims went public through a blank-check merger that valued the company at $1.6 billion, though its stock is down a bit from its debut price. 

Ro, in the meantime, recently closed $500 million in funding, which reportedly gave it a valuation above $5 billion. The company has recently grown its business through acquisitions, recently buying an in-home care business and a fertility testing startup.

Photo credit: Getty Images, photo_chaz