Issue 034
Digital health research from Brian Dolan
Welcome back to E&O Mondays, the free newsletter from Exits & Outcomes that features health tech puzzles and trivia, new and under-the-radar funding news, paid content teasers and other digital health odds and ends.
E&O Mondays.
In this issue:
- Ten under-the-radar or not-yet-reported health tech funding deals.
- The long-awaited answer to last week’s Health Tech Rebus Puzzle along with the answer to last week’s bonus trivia question…
- But wait: Are you ready? If this was forwarded your way, why not sign up as a paying subscriber to E&O by clicking right here…
Ten secret (or under-reported) health tech funding deals from the past week
Instead of rehashing the dozens of funding deals you’ve already read elsewhere, I focused this week on a number of deals that you likely have not yet read about. (These are all first in E&O — as far as I can Google.)
$87.6 million – Eight Sleep – The DTC sleep fitness startup, which apparently once went by the name Morphy, did announce a long list of new investors last month as part of a strategic round of funding, but — as far as I can tell — they never disclosed the dollar amount raised. According to a recent SEC filing, Eight Sleep raised $87.6 million. Its last disclosed raise was a $40 million one back in 2019.
“Eight Sleep is a sleep fitness company whose … technology regulates temperature and analyzes heart respiratory rates, movement, and sleep phases to monitor sleep quality. That data is sent to the company’s app, which analyzes the information and then offers suggestions to improve a user’s sleep fitness.” Site
$3.5 million in options, warrants, and other securities – Capital Rx – The company recently raised $50 million in February, but it also just filed this $3.5 million in options or warrants. Here’s what they do:
“Capital Rx’s enterprise pharmacy platform, JUDI, digitally links providers, patients, pharmacies, and plans… By establishing a competitive marketplace through its Clearinghouse Model, Capital Rx unlocks the pharmacy supply chain to ensure patients receive seamless access to medication at the lowest price.”
$3 million in debt – Yes Health, which raised a $6 million Series A back in the spring of 2020, raised $3 million in debt, according to a recent filing. The company self-drescribes as a “fully CDC-recognized, all-mobile diabetes prevention program with in-the-moment coaching.” Site
$2.3 million in equity and other securities – Wellview – Here’s what this Tennessee-based startup does:
“Wellview is a digital health and virtual care company delivering preventive and chronic condition management care based on consumer behaviors. Wellview’s proprietary, consumer-centric technology application captures data and builds a member’s Care Profile used to drive industry-leading engagement with Wellview’s Care Team, a network of integrated clinical and behavioral health experts.” Site
$2 million – Best Shot Care AKA Fertility Rescripted – The security filing describes the raise as equity but it also includes the conversion of outstanding indebtedness. Here’s what Best Shot Care offers fertility patients and their care teams: “A patient engagement app, clinic dashboard and supportive micro-communities led by experts.” Site
$450,000 – CareTeam is a direct primary care provider that powers on-site clinics and virtual services for employers. It offers: “primary & urgent care services, pharmacy & lab services, chronic disease management, [and] health & wellness coaching.” Site
$305,000 in debt, options, and other securities – Rimidi is a remote monitoring focused digital health company:
“Rimidi enables clinicians to remotely monitor their patients’ blood pressure, blood glucose levels, weight and more, and virtually send encouragement or treatment adjustments when necessary.” Site
$300,000 in debt and other options – Medaica is a quiet startup that has a placeholder page for a website right now. They appear to be focused on connected medical devices and will probably try to build on the current video visit-powered telemedicine model today with things like digital stethoscopes, for example. Unclear if they are selling kits with digital medical devices made by others or if they aim to manufacture the devices themselves. Site
$260,000 in equity and simple agreements for future equity – Thrive365 is focused on nutrition and diabetes:
“Thrive365 is … [a] patented nutritional meal scoring platform proven to benefit individuals living with Type 2 Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes. Our proprietary platform combines the best of nutritional science, world-class technologies and Win the Day health coaching.” Site
$250,000 in other securities – Healthrageous – Healthrageous, one of the original employer-focused digital health companies is back? Sort of. After Humana acquired its assets in 2013, I thought that was the last we’d hear about Healthrageous, but its former CEO Rick Lee has apparently resurrected the brand as a health-focused meal delivery company. The company may have a broader focus on non-medical care as a recent trademark filing indicates:
“Virtual and in-home support services, namely, health and care management services in the nature of the coordination of necessary services and personal care for non-medical virtual, in person, and in-home personal care services for assisting with daily living activities.”
Health Tech Rebus Answer (Trivia answer too)
Here’s the answer to last Monday’s Health Tech Rebus issue:
“We do not have any competitors”
Many E&O readers admitted they, indeed, have uttered this phrase out loud. Next time someone asks, I’m going to try it out too.
Surprisingly, no one got the bonus trivia question, which was: The CEO of which digital health company was on the team that discovered the Higgs boson particle (the “God Particle) back in 2012?
The answer: Natural Cycles.
Its CEO and Co-founder Elina Berglund explains the connection in her Linkedin profile: “Elina Berglund is the CEO and co-founder of Natural Cycles – the world’s first, and only, app to be certified as a contraception both in Europe and in the US. She was part of the team that discovered the Higgs boson at the CERN, which led to the Nobel Prize in physics in 2013. Following this success, Elina was looking for an effective natural contraceptive and applied her skills from particle physics to create an algorithm that could accurately pinpoint when a woman is fertile. Elina’s mission is to pioneer women’s health with research and passion – by empowering every woman with the knowledge she needs to be in charge of her health.”
Once again… ICYMI: Last week’s puzzle, hint, (along with directions for how to play) are all included below:
Here’s how to play: This kind of puzzle is called a Rebus. Write down or think of the word for what’s pictured in each box as a starting point. Then swap letters (if you see =), or remove letters (when you see -), or add letters (when you see +) at the beginning, middle, or end of the words as noted. Then sound it out.
Hint: This is what some entrepreneurs tell journalists in response to a common interview question.
