Antidote Health, a telehealth provider, has raised $12 million in seed funding.
The financing round was led by angel investors, including iAngels, Well-Tech Ventures and Flint Capital.
Launched in January, the company offers a model of care inspired by the Israeli healthcare system. Antidote Health’s artificial intelligence-driven virtual health maintenance organization connects patients to doctors through a chatbot and video calls.
Like the Israeli system, patients pay a monthly membership fee, which at Antidote Health starts at $29 a month. The company also offers a family health plan, where members pay a monthly fee of $59 for unlimited doctor visits, zero copays on most prescription medications — until the patient’s 21st doctor visit — and control over their medical records. Any family member can use the telehealth services.
When patients want to see a doctor, they go through an AI-driven triage process using the chatbot on the Antidote Health app, explained Ben Enosh, co-founder and president of the company, in an email. After the triage, a video session with a doctor is scheduled. Any treatment costs that are covered by their membership plan are reimbursed using a debit card issued by Antidote to the member.
The company currently operates in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Florida and North Carolina. It plans to use the seed funding to expand to more states, starting with California, Enosh said.
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.
Antidote Health currently has 50 doctors on its platform, with plans to grow to 100 by the end of the quarter.
Though it only offers acute and primary care services at the moment, it aims to expand its clinical services within the coming quarter, Enosh said.
Antidote launched at an opportune time for telehealth services in the U.S. The Covid-19 pandemic drove up telehealth use exponentially, and even though it has dropped since hitting its peak in April 2020, telehealth use is still 38 times higher than before the pandemic.
This spike has prompted the launch of new companies and a surge in telehealth funding, with global investment hitting a record high of $5 billion in the second quarter of 2021.
This sets Antidote up for fierce competition, with companies like 98point6 and K Health offering similar services. But the company may be able to set itself apart by offering zero copays for initial doctor visits and including entire families on its plans.
Looking ahead, Antidote Health plans to expand nationally, focusing on the population of Americans who are low-income or uninsured and unable to afford care.
Photo: Abscent84, Getty Images
