Injectsense and Injectpower, Koya Medical, Medicaid
Morf Health Raises $3M in Seed Funding
Morf Health, a San Francisco, CA-based healthcare company focused on patient care, raised $3M in funding.
The round was led by Kindred Ventures with participation from Uncommon Capital and Asymmetric Capital Partners.
The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its business reach.
Led by Montana Scher and James Thompson, Morf Health enables providers to sync patient data, maintain a unified view of their patients, and build custom workflows on top of that data to streamline their operations and reduce their administrative burden. By integrating with each tool flexibly, Morf makes it easy for providers to adjust their workflows as their needs change.
Morf was part of the Y Combinator summer 2022 batch, during which they launched their beta program. Over the past year, they have been working with their customers to streamline onboarding for over 10,000 patients.
Morf Health Raises $3M in Seed Funding
Morf Health, a San Francisco, CA-based healthcare company focused on patient care, raised $3M in funding
Medicaid navigation startup Fortuna Health picks up $4M backed by a16z, Cityblock founder and John Legend
Patients have to navigate too many hurdles when enrolling for and managing their Medicaid coverage.
From glitchy portals operated by state and county governments to submitting forms through the mail or faxing documents, patients face a lot of pain points in a healthcare system that is already challenging for underserved individuals.
"For somebody who is already underserved by the healthcare system, there are many steps and barriers to just understanding from an eligibility perspective, whether you're eligible and then going through enrollment and actually ending up on your plan and also knowing where you should go for care, all of that can be extremely challenging," entrepreneur and former investor Nikita Singareddy told Fierce Healthcare. "It's become a very convoluted system over the decades as far as how Medicaid has been designed, unfortunately, for people who are trying to navigate their eligibility and enrollment process,"
Singareddy has faced these challenges first-hand as she was born on public assistance and has spent time on Medicaid herself. She understands the frustration of making phone calls and spending hours waiting on hold to navigate recertification.
She teamed up Cydney Kim and Ben Wesner, two other healthcare operators with direct Medicaid experience, to tackle these problems.
Fortuna Health launched earlier this year with the aim of helping the 90 million individuals on Medicaid seamlessly enroll and renew their coverage. The startup's self-serve, mobile-first platform enables consumers and the teams that support them to easily check Medicaid eligibility and manage their coverage and eliminates the need to interact with state portals and physical forms, executives said.
https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/medicaid-navigation-startup-fortuna-health-picks-4m-investment-backed-a16z-cityblockCoverSelf Extends Seed Round to $8.2M
CoverSelf, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a platform for healthcare claims and payment integrity, raised additional $3.4M in Seed funding.
The round, which brought the total amount to $8.2M, saw participation from BEENEXT, 3One4 Capital, and new investor Z21 ventures.
The company intends to use the funds to scale operations, build GenAI capabilities, and increase its headcount.
Founded in 2021 by seasoned US healthcare domain experts Rajasekhar Maddireddy and Raghavendra Pawar, CoverSelf provides a purpose-built platform that utilizes multiple approaches to reduce waste while identifying new savings opportunities. It empowers payers to adapt to claims and payment inaccuracies by enabling them to configure their policies and logic in simple English-like language or use simple policy-specific templates.
CoverSelf Extends Seed Round to $8.2M
CoverSelf, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a platform for healthcare claims and payment integrity, raised additional $3.4M in Seed funding
Injectsense and Injectpower Secure $9.4M
Injectsense Inc., an Emeryville, CA-based sensor-enabled digital health company, and sister company Injectpower, a Grenoble, France- and Emeryville, CA-based developer of ultra-miniature solid-state microbatteries for medical applications, announced combined funding of $9.4m.
The funding consists of:
a $2.5M bridge investment from private investors for Injectsense as it moves into clinical IOP studies and final product development incorporating rigorous quality management systems, and
€6.5M (US$7M) for Injectpower, which is readying its energy-dense, solid-state lithium-ion technology for transfer to production.
The sister companies will use the funds to bring integrated autonomous implantable devices – smaller than a grain of rice — to production.
The funds will serve to further consolidate the two companies’ combined global supply infrastructure to create an advanced medical device cluster for implantables based in France. The cluster will streamline business opportunities, enable improved supply chain management, and support Injectsense’s February 2024 first-in-human studies for sensors that continuously measure intraocular pressure (IOP).
The implantable sensors measure IOP continuously, even during sleep, when pressure can spike significantly and cause vision loss over the long term.
Injectsense already produces hundreds of prototype devices and is ramping up to thousands in 2024. Besides IOP sensors, it is also producing sensors for intracranial pressure (ICP) measurement and is building a path to cardiovascular pressure monitoring applications.
Injectsense has provided sensors to Johns Hopkins University’s Wilmer Eye Institute for animal testing under the guidance of Dr.Thomas Johnson III, M.D. The Institute is currently completing its study. The company used recent funding from the NIH for the latest iteration of its sensor. This version will be used for first-in-human studies by Dr. Juan Jose Mura in Santiago, Chile. The study will be conducted over months, with data available in late spring (and earlier for Injectsense’s ophthalmic device partner), with the aim of collecting long-term safety and clinical data.
Injectsense and Injectpower Secure $9.4M
Injectsense Inc., an Emeryville, CA-based sensor-enabled digital health company, and sister company Injectpower, a Grenoble, France- and Emeryville, CA-based developer of ultra-miniature solid-state microbatteries for medical applications, announced combined funding of $9.4m
Mindful drinking app Sunnyside lands $11.5M to launch its AI-powered coach
“Sober curious” and “mindful drinking” have become popular terms in recent years, with 47% of the U.S. adult population wanting to cut back on alcohol. Sunnyside, the app promoting healthy drinking habits, secured $11.5 million in Series A funding led by Motley Fool Ventures with major participation from Will Ventures, the company announced today. The funds will help Sunnyside roll out its new AI mindful drinking coach named “Sunny,” which generates recommended responses for Sunnyside’s team of human coaches.
Other participants in the round include Uncork Capital, Offline Ventures, Joyance Partners, Wisdom Ventures, Eudemian Ventures, Adjacent, Scribble Ventures, Cooley LLP and MyFitnessPal founder Michael Lee. To date, Sunnyside has raised a total of $14.6 million.
Alongside the funding announcement, the company revealed its newest hire — Steve Lloyd, chief product and technology officer. Lloyd previously served the same role for fitness app Strava.
Sunnyside’s new AI mindful drinking coach aims to support coaches by answering simple questions from members. For instance, if you are going to a party yet want to stick to only one alcoholic beverage, Sunny can provide tips on how to stay committed to your goal. Rather than Sunny responding to members directly, the AI coach generates recommendations that a human coach reviews before being sent as SMS.
Built on ChatGPT, the AI is loaded with Sunnyside’s dataset around members’ “drinking patterns, long-term behavior changes and habits around drinking,” explained Sunnyside CEO and co-founder Nick Allen, the former head of growth at Lyft for Business.
Mindful drinking app Sunnyside lands $11.5M to launch its AI-powered coach | TechCrunch
"Sober curious" and "mindful drinking" have become popular terms in recent years, with 47% of the U.S. adult population wanting to cut back on alcohol. Sunnyside, the app promoting healthy drinking habits, secured $11.5 million in Series A funding led by Motley Fool Ventures.
AristaMD and Sitka Form Single Company, Raises $16.5M in Series C Funding
AristaMD, a San Diego, CA-based digital healthcare company specializing in eConsults and referral management services, merged with Sitka, a video-consult specialist network supporting value-based care providers, and the combined company raised $16.5m in Series C funding.
The backers were not disclosed.
Led by Brooke LeVasseur, CEO, AristaMD provides care transition solutions, now including eConsult, vConsult and referral management tools, which empower providers to conduct electronic physician-to-physician consultations to inform patient diagnoses and care, facilitate the selection and scheduling of in-person specialist visits, and schedule peer-to-peer reviews for insurance authorization. The company’s virtual specialty provider group offers primary care providers nationwide access to specialist advice.
Sitka customers will benefit from referral nurse navigation and access to referral management services. AristaMD will leverage Sitka’s established virtual specialty provider group, Sitka Medical Associates, and video consults to enhance its eConsult services.
The team also includes Kelsey Mellard, founder and former CEO of Sitka and the new president of AristaMD, and Dr. Julia Jezmir, Chief Medical Officer.
AristaMD and Sitka Form Single Company, Raises $16.5M in Series C Funding
AristaMD, a San Diego, CA-based digital healthcare company specializing in eConsults and referral management services, merged with Sitka, a video-consult specialist network supporting value-based care providers, and the combined company raised $16.5m in Series C funding
Koya Medical Raises Up To $30M in Financing
Koya Medical, an Oakland, CA-based healthcare company, raised up to $30M in funding.
The round was led by OrbiMed.
The company intends to use the funds to support its strategic expansion and continued growth.
Led by CEO Andy Doraiswamy, Koya Medical is a transformative healthcare company developing breakthrough treatments for venous diseases and lymphedema and personalized care. An estimated 20 million Americans live with lymphedema, a progressive, incurable condition where a buildup of protein rich fluid causes painful swelling in the arm, leg, and/or other regions of the body. For most, lymphedema requires lifelong maintenance and various levels of therapy to control swelling and pain. Lymphedema can result from a variety of factors, including cancer, chronic venous disease, infection, and surgery.
Commenting on the news, Andy Doraiswamy said: “Lymphedema and chronic venous diseases have tremendous unmet needs where millions of patients suffer due to the progressive nature of these conditions and their debilitating impacts. With OrbiMed joining our journey, we will be able to make a stronger impact in improving patient lives“
