Health tech funding snapshot—Carbon Health banks $100M; AliveCor nabs $65M to detect heart problems with AI

Health startups that focus on virtual care are getting an injection of cash from investors amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

And that is great news for tech-enabled primary care startup Carbon Health.

The company secured $100 million in series C funding. Dragoneer Investment Group led the round, with participation from existing investors including Brookfield Technology Partners (BTP), Data Collective (DCVC) and Builders VC.

That funding round is on the heels of its $28 million add-on investment from May.

Business is booming for the San Francisco-based chain of clinics that also offers telehealth services plans to expand its digital footprint. This past year has seen Carbon Health expand from just seven clinics to 27 across six states, and it introduced virtual care to 16 states. The company has also seen a sixfold increase in patient volume over the past year.

The company plans to grow its clinic footprint to 1,500 locations across the U.S. by 2025 and says it will open 100 pop-up COVID-19 clinics in 20 markets before the end of winter.

Carbon Health provides omnichannel care, in which patients receive care from the same trusted providers at a wide variety of access points: clinics, pop-up sites, video, the Carbon Health app and even on-site at their employers.

“A striking one in five counties in the United States is a healthcare desert, and this year the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the profound effects of these disparities and weaknesses in our healthcare system,” said Eren Bali, co-founder and CEO of Carbon Health. “Our mission is to solve these problems—and with help from this investment, we can accelerate our plans to deliver accessible preventative and chronic illness care to close the healthcare gap in this country.”

The company is building out its evidence-based specialty programs, such as chronic illness management and women’s health, that will underscore its accessible approach to care.

It also launched its COVID Ready workplace safety program, which is currently implemented broadly in industries ranging from academia to sports, entertainment, biotech and travel.

Here's a snapshot of other health IT funding deals of $20 million or more in November:

  • Revamping clinical trials: Clinical trials research company Medable secured $91 million in series C funding led by Sapphire Ventures with follow-on investment from existing investors GSR Ventures, PPD and Streamlined Ventures. As the COVID-19 crisis has halted thousands of trials, there is increased demand for the sort of virtual/siteless model Medable offers, according to Fierce Biotech.
     
  • Mental health benefits platform: Spring Health, which says it provides “precision mental healthcare,” landed a $76 million series B funding round led by worldwide investment firm Tiger Global Management. GingerBread Capital and Operator Partners, a newly formed fund by Nat Turner and Zach Weinberg, the co-founders of Flatiron Health, also joined the latest funding round.
     
  • Heart monitoring: Digital cardiopulmonary health startup Eko nabbed $65 million in new funding. The series C raise was headed by Capital Partners and Questa Capital and also saw participation from Artis Ventures, DigiTx Partners, NTTVC, 3M Ventures and other investors.
     
  • Remote cardiology tech: AliveCor, a developer of AI-based personal ECG technology, closed $65 million series E financing led by existing investors OMRON, Khosla Ventures, WP Global Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, and Bold Capital Partners. The company formed a partnership with Omron to provide at-home blood pressure monitoring tech to customers.
     
  • Patient communication: Well Health scored a $45 million series C funding round led by Lead Edge Capital. Additional participants in the latest funding round include Martin Ventures, the healthcare-focused venture capital firm founded by executive, investor and entrepreneur Charlie Martin, and existing investors Jackson Square Ventures, Health Velocity Capital, Summation Health Ventures, Structure Capital and Freestyle Capital.
     
  • Digital primary care: K Health nabbed $42 million in series D funding round led by Valor Equity Partners. Additional investors include Marcy Venture Partners, co-founded by Jay-Z, Atreides Management and PICO Venture Partners as well as existing investors 14W and Max Ventures.
     
  • Digital health assistant: Buoy Health, a company that offers an AI-powered navigation platform, gained investments from multiple health insurers as part of a $37.5 million series C funding round. Cigna Ventures, Humana and Optum Ventures contributed along with venture capital firms WR Hambrecht + Co. and Trustbridge Partners.
     
  • Precision medicine: Health IT company COTA Inc. nabbed $34 million in growth financing to further build its cancer care data analytics services. The series D financing round was led by Baptist Health South Florida and ONC Capital with participation from EW Healthcare, Horizon BCBS, Boston Millennia Partners and other existing investors. 
     
  • Physician software: Solv Health snagged $27 million to expand its national scheduling network of healthcare providers. The new funding round was led by Acrew Capital with MultiCare Health System, Light Street Capital, Benchmark and Greylock Partners also participating. Like an OpenTable for healthcare providers, Solv gives consumers unprecedented access to same-day doctors' visits, virtual visits, chat-based healthcare and COVID-19 testing.
     
  • Mental health care: Headway closed a $26 million series A funding round led by Thrive and GV (formerly Google Ventures) with participation from existing investors at Accel, which led its seed round, GFC and IA Ventures. The company also received angel investment support from founders of some of the most influential new healthcare companies like One Medical, Flatiron Health and Clover Health.
     
  • Medication guidance: WithMe Health raised $20 million in a series B financing round led by OMERS Ventures and with participation from existing investor Oak HC/FT. New investors Section 32, Shulman Ventures and MTS Ventures also participated.