Pear is an early-stage venture fund founded by Pejman Nozad and Mar Hershenson. Their co-founding managers have historically seeded very early stage tech start-ups such as Doordash, Guardant Health, Gusto, Viz.ai, Dropbox, Lending Club, Vanta, Zoosk, Addepar, Path and many others. Their motto is simple: they invest in exceptional founders who are building amazing companies. They utilize every resource they have to assist their founders and entrepreneurs shape the future.

Pear VC

Norwest is a venture capital and growth equity investment firm that specializes in venture and growth equity companies. Since its inception, it has invested in more than 600 companies and partnered with over 140 active companies across our venture and growth equity portfolio. The firm invests in early to late-stage companies across a wide range of sectors with a focus on consumer, enterprise, and healthcare. It offers a deep network of connections, operating experience, and a wide range of impactful services to help CEOs and founders scale their businesses.

Norwest Venture Partners

Index Ventures is a venture capital firm which helps entrepreneurs turn bold ideas into global businesses.

Index Ventures

GFC is a venture fund that supports entrepreneurs at various stages of business development. It focuses on global markets and seeks individuals with innovative ideas. The fund evaluates opportunities based on potential impact and feasibility.

Global Founders Capital

Our mission is to coach and invest in entrepreneurial leaders building world-class, purpose-driven organizations. Led by Jeff Weiner and Brian Rumao. Sector focus areas include B2B / enterprise software, financial tech, consumer apps, health and wellness and education. We are interested in productivity software and virtual work, direct-to-consumer / e-commerce, SaaS, and data and AI/ML-powered platforms.

Next Play Ventures

Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), founded in November 2017 with a transformational spirit, originates and invests in promising entrepreneurs and technologies across industries to improve Koch Industries' existing businesses and create new opportunities. Based in Wichita, Kansas, Koch Industries is one of the largest private companies in America with estimated annual revenues as high as $100 billion, according to Forbes. It owns a diverse group of companies involved in refining, chemicals, and biofuels; forest and consumer products; fertilizers; polymers and fibers; process and pollution control equipment and technologies; electronics; information systems; commodity trading; minerals; energy; glass; ranching; and investments. Since 2003, Koch Companies have invested more than $80 billion in acquisitions and other capital expenditures. With a presence in about 60 countries, Koch Companies employ more than 120,000 people worldwide, with about 70,000 of those in the United States. From January 2009 to the present, Koch Companies have earned more than 1,200 awards for safety, environmental excellence, community stewardship, innovation, and customer service.

Koch Disruptive Technologies

Plug and Play is a seed and early-stage investor focused on great teams leading emerging growth companies.  Plug and Play runs 12 industry-specific accelerator programs twice a year, that acts as a platform for major corporations and high quality startups to connect and collaborate.  Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Plug and Play participates in Seed, Angel and Series A funding where they often co-invest with their strategic partners. Through years of experience and as part of their network, Plug and Play has put together a world-class network of serial entrepreneurs, strategic investors, and industry leaders who actively assist the firm with its successful and growing investment portfolio.  SEED ROUND. Plug and Play participates in seed round investing through a program called Startup Camp. Startup Camp is a 10-week program based in Silicon Valley for top-notch entrepreneurs to work intensively on building out their business model. Select startups will refine their business models and prototypes with help from a combination of structured workshops, speaker series and mentorship sessions, as well as active coaching from their investment team. At the culmination of Startup Camp, founders will have crystalized their business plans and pitched their company to the venture capital community at EXPO Demo Day.''  ANGEL ROUND Plug and Play makes angel round investments throughout the year, sourced from their monthly Plug and Play Angels (PAPA) sessions. They are partnered with local angel investors in Silicon Valley who participate in PAPA to find the most promising startups and best new technologies.  SERIES A. Series A typical Series A round is in the range of $2 million to $10 million, and is intended to provide operating capital for the company for six months to two years. This round capitalizes the company as it develops its products, performs initial marketing and branding, acquires talent, and conducts other early-stage business operations. It is in this stage that Plug and Play will co-invest with over 180 venture capital partners.  Plug and Play has helped grow market leaders such as PayPal, Danger, Google, DropBox, LendingClub, Zoosk, SoundHound, CreditSesame, Skytree, and has over 400 more early-stage startups in its portfolio.

Plug and Play

Correlation Ventures is a new breed of venture capital firm, leveraging world-class analytics to offer entrepreneurs and other venture capitalists a dramatically better option when they are seeking additional capital to complete a financing round.

Correlation Ventures

Neura Health

Neura Health is a venture-backed startup with a mission to improve access and quality of care for neurologic conditions. Our longer-term vision is to find cures by learning from the experience of every neurology patient. We were inspired to create Neura because of two key problems in neurology: access and quality. Access is sub-par because there are not enough neurologists in the country, so the average wait time is 35 days, with patients often having to travel hours to access the right specialist. Quality is sub-par because diagnoses are currently based on self-reported data with significant recency bias.

Neura Health is an AI-backed virtual neurology care clinic that connects patients with neurologists, offering services for chronic neurological conditions. Its app-based platform provides neurology-specific symptom monitoring and condition-specific diagnostic tests including cognitive exams, psychomotor tests, and standard tests. It claims the symptom tracker enables a shorter discovery cycle of a neurological condition and allows Neura to use predictive analytics for early warning signals and customized treatment recommendations.

Membership-based, non-insurance healthcare companies helping maintain a steady state of well being.

Preventive Healthcare

<div>New York-based Neura Health is a specialist telemedicine provider offering care for patients with headaches, migraines, and their subtypes. The platform offers its users access to one-on-one coaching, personalized treatment plans, consultations with specialist neurologists, and prescriptions and referral services.&nbsp;</div>

More important now than ever, telehealth will long outlast the pandemic that drove its growth.

Telehealth

UCSF Rosenman Institute Awards 2023 ADAPT to Innovative Healthcare Startups Neura Health and ThriveLink

Neura Health is an AI-backed virtual neurology care clinic that connects patients with neurologists, offering services for chronic neurological conditions. Its app-based platform provides neurology-specific symptom monitoring and condition-specific diagnostic tests including cognitive exams, psychomotor tests, and standard tests. It claims the symptom tracker enables a shorter discovery cycle of a neurological condition and allows Neura to use predictive analytics for early warning signals and customized treatment recommendations.The company first launched its services with a focus on headaches and migraines, and it plans to expand into other neurological conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and Parkinson’s Disease in the longer term. The app also offers a headache tracker, insights into triggers, access to a dedicated care team, as well as personalized coaching via video consultations with board-certified neurologists. Additionally, individuals can also receive prescription medication at their homes. As of February 2022, the platform was available across the US on both Android and iPhone platforms. The company offers a membership program priced at USD 28 per month, while video visits are charged separately depending on a patient’s insurance plan.Funding and financialsIn <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18755">May 2023,</a> Neura Health raised USD 8 million in a seed funding round co-led by Koch Disruptive Technologies and Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from other venture capital firms. The raised funds were used to support the company’s go-to-market strategy to treat more patients at scale and expand into the enterprise market. The company announced it would initially focus on employers and health plans.Further in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27027">February 2024</a>, the company received USD 100,000 in funding as recipients of the 2023 ADAPT program awards by UCSF Rosenman Institute.

Cardiomo Care is developing noninvasive wearable devices to alert users and caretakers when there are abnormalities in the heartbeat. The company’s AI engine, trained on existing and growing data sets, can predict potential heart issues up to two hours before they occur, enabling early detection and intervention for arrhythmias and other cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).The company's product, CardiomoPatch, is a waterproof, wearable patch capable of long-term wear with a 10-day battery life. The patch monitors a patient's cardiac data, including ECG outputs, breathing, and skin temperature, and transmits the data via a mobile app for analysis by Cardiomo's AI engine.&nbsp;As of May 2024, the company is yet to commercialize its product and has over 1,600 pre-orders.

Cardiomo Care

Omada is a prevention-focused digital therapeutics startup that helps members achieve health goals through lifestyle changes. It offers four evidence-based, virtual prevention programs for managing hypertension, musculoskeletal (MSK) issues, prediabetes, and diabetes.Omada offers real-time data tracking through connected devices (such as wireless scales, blood pressure, and glucose monitors) and access to personalized coaching sessions via a mobile app as part of its prevention program. It also provides an online community of peers with similar health conditions to discuss challenges and provide support. In May 2021, Omada became the first fully-virtual healthcare provider to earn the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Population Health Program Accreditation for its type 2 diabetes and type 2 diabetes + hypertension programs.Unlike its peers, Omada operates a performance-based business model where it charges clients an enrollment fee based on the number of users and a performance fee based on how much weight their employees lose. In May 2020, the company acquired virtual physical therapy startup Physera.Key customers and partnershipsAs of May 2024, Omada had more than 1 million members from more than 1,900 enterprise clients across all 50 US states. Its B2B employer and health plan client base include key clients such as American Eagle, Kaiser Permanente, Costco Wholesale, 3M, and Marvin. Additionally, the company has partnered with health systems and hospitals such as Intermountain Healthcare to provide its preventive programs as a covered benefit.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15587">January 2023</a>, the company partnered with health service company Castell (a subsidiary of Intermountain Healthcare) to provide its diabetes programs to members from Intermountain Healthcare’s primary care providers in its Utah Medical Group. Further in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25245">January 2024</a>, the company partnered with Amazon to expand access to its cardiometabolic program.

Omada Health

VillageMD provides primary care services for patients. It also provides tools, technology, and staffing support needed for physicians to deliver high-quality services. VillageMD’s service delivery methods include traditional freestanding clinics, Village Medical at Walgreens co-located clinics, as well as at-home and around-the-clock virtual visits. It also leverages a team-based approach to care where physicians lead nurse practitioners, pharmacists, mental health specialists, and dietitians to offer a holistic care program. The technology of VillageMD includes docOS, an operating system that enables better patient care by connecting various clinical source systems with ongoing patient-generated data coupled with an AI engine to continuously analyze messages to enable patient self-care.The company made several acquisitions to expand its footprint: 1) <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14347">Summit Health</a> for USD 8.9 billion in November 2022, 2) Healthy Interactions, an interactive patient education platform, in February 2022, and 3) <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16968">Starling Physicians</a>, a primary care and specialty care provider, in March 2023.Key customers and partnershipsIn June 2020, VillageMD and Walgreens Boots Alliance announced a collaborative effort to open at least 600 Village Medical centers at Walgreens across more than 30 US markets by 2025. Walgreens invested USD 5.2 billion in VillageMD (from the previously announced USD 1.0 billion), raising its ownership stake to 63% (from 30%).However, as of May 2024, Walgreens had plans to close 160 VillageMD clinics as part of a cost-cutting plan.

VillageMD

Cityblock Health is a value-based healthcare provider focused on delivering comprehensive care to underserved communities, primarily Medicaid and lower-income Medicare beneficiaries. The company combines primary care, behavioral health, and social services to address the complex physical, mental, and social needs of its members.Cityblock's model involves partnering with local community-based organizations and deploying multidisciplinary care teams that include doctors, nurses, behavioral health specialists, and community health workers. These teams provide personalized care through 24/7 access to multi-modal care delivery, including in-home visits, telehealth, and community health hubs.The services of Cityblock are available to members at no additional cost if they are covered by an eligible health plan.Key Customers and PartnershipsAs of May 2024, the company’s services were available in seven states across the US and served over 100,000 members.In May 2024, it partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29647">Sunshine Health</a> to expand to Florida, and, in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13270">September 2022</a>, it partnered with MDwise to expand into Indiana. Prior to that, the company had partnered with insurance providers such as ConnectiCare (Connecticut), Tufts Health Plan (Massachusetts), Emblem Health (New York), Healthy Blue (North Carolina), Molina Healthcare (Ohio) and CareFirst (Washington DC).Funding and FinancialsCityblock is a spin-off of Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet company that incubates and invests in tech companies and products to improve urban infrastructure. It completed a USD 400 million Series D funding round led by Softbank in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/5326">September 2021</a>, valuing the company at USD 5.7 billion. The funds were used to expand its services.

Cityblock Health

Everside Health (formerly Paladina Health) offers preventative care for chronic conditions and primary, mental and occupational healthcare treatments for acute conditions. Patients benefit from around-the-clock access to care, same-day or next-day appointments for in-person, and virtual care visits with zero copays.Everside aims to generate around 17% healthcare cost savings in three years and 31% in five years for its corporate members by leveraging a data-driven approach to care coordination.The company leverages data from past medical records, predictive analytics, and AI in the delivery of preventative care services.Founded in 2010 under the name Paladina Health, the company was rebranded in November 2020 as Everside Health following a merger between three primary care groups (Paladina, Activate Healthcare, and Healthstat). Furthermore, in February 2024, Everside Health merged with primary care provider Marathon Health to form a combined entity that would operate as Marathon Health, and, as of May 2024, the integration was ongoing.Key customers and partnershipPost-merger with Marathon Health, the combined entity would serve 2.5 million patients through over 680 clinics across 41 states.Funding and financialsThe company received its most recent investment in July 2022, amounting to USD 164 million in growth equity funding. The round was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA). The funds were allocated toward growing its market presence and exploring opportunities for M&amp;A as well as to enhance and improve its product features. Additionally, the firm planned to expand its coverage of specialty care services aimed at individuals, employers, and union organizations.

Everside Health

Platforms offer a subscription-based or B2B-sponsored, evidence-based program for managing a specific long-term health condition.

DPCs offer value-based primary and preventive care services addressing whole-person (social, mental, physical) needs for a fixed monthly or annual fee paid by either the patient, insurance provider, or employer.

Companies offer B2B and D2C evidence-based treatments delivered via software programs to prevent and manage a variety of chronic conditions.

Tools that collect and analyze real-time patient data that supports healthcare providers with clinical decisions,  improves patient outcomes, and reduces medical errors.

Companies offer independent physician practices and hospitals with the tools (patient engagement, care coordination, administrative services) to help manage and improve clinical health outcomes of a defined group of individuals or large populations.

Platforms are used to track and gather patient health-related information via either a connected device or at-home test kits to detect the early onset of disease and identify any abnormalities in readings—but do not include a treatment plan.

To gather large amounts of real-time data for chronic care management, DTx, and patient monitoring

XR used by some startups for chronic pain management

Offers digital means of providing direct primary care, passive remote monitoring, chronic care management, etc.

AI/ML is used in predictive analytics, diagnostics tools, and population management

Offers tailored preventive interventions and treatments to the specific needs and characteristics of each individual

<div>
 
 New York-based Neura Health is a specialist telemedicine provider offering care for patients with headaches, migraines, and their subtypes. The platform offers its users access to one-on-one coaching, personalized treatment plans, consultations with specialist neurologists, and prescriptions and referral services.&nbsp;
 
 
 The platform offers both video consultations and doctor-patient messaging services, along with patient monitoring services to measure the effectiveness of both medicinal and non-medicinal prescribed treatments. Neura Health operates on both a subscription service and fee-per-service model, where patients are charged a monthly subscription for access to the platform while also paying for individual services such as video consultations.
 
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In May 2023, Neura Health partnered with Switchboard Health to join Switchboard&rsquo;s health benefits platform and care network of specialty clinics. Through the partnership, Neura Health&rsquo;s services were made available as a care option for Switchboard Health&rsquo;s members.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In May 2023, Neura Health raised USD 8 million in a seed funding round co-led by Koch Disruptive Technologies and Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from other venture capital firms. The raised funds were used to support the company&rsquo;s go-to-market strategy to treat more patients at scale and expand into the enterprise market. The&nbsp; company announced it would initially focus on employers and health plans.&nbsp; 
 
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Nice healthcare is a virtual and in-home primary care provider that offers a suite of healthcare services to small and medium-sized businesses, including primary care, mental health therapy, and physical therapy. Nice healthcare operates on a fixed monthly fee per member model, allowing employees to access unlimited care without additional out-of-pocket costs. The company provides virtual consultations through its app, as well as in-home visits for physical exams, lab tests, and X-rays.&nbsp;As of <a href="https://www.nice.healthcare/locations">August 2024</a>, Nice Healthcare was operating in 12 states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin. The company's services covered <a href="https://www.nice.healthcare/the-nicessities/three-categories-of-primary-care#:~:text=Only%204%25%20of%20our%20patients,with%20Nice%20may%20look%20like.">over 95%</a> of issues patients typically discuss with their clinicians, with <a href="https://www.nice.healthcare/the-nicessities/three-categories-of-primary-care#:~:text=Only%204%25%20of%20our%20patients,with%20Nice%20may%20look%20like.">only 4%</a> of patients being referred to external specialists. The company employs nurse practitioners, registered nurses, physician assistants, and medical assistants to deliver care.As of <a href="https://www.nice.healthcare/the-nicessities/three-categories-of-primary-care">August 2024</a>, Nice healthcare offered 35 free labs and physical tests as well as in-home imaging services and prescribed over 550 free medications that could be picked up at over 60,000 pharmacies nationwide or delivered to patients' homes.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsIn <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/getlabs-and-nice-healthcare-partner-to-expand-access-to-virtual-healthcare-services-and-at-home-lab-testing-301813668.html">May 2023</a>, Nice Healthcare announced a partnership with Getlabs, a provider of at-home diagnostic collections. This collaboration aimed to expand access to in-home healthcare services and lab testing, allowing Nice healthcare patients to benefit from a more comprehensive suite of diagnostic tests.

Nice Healthcare

Amicomed is a cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform which provides blood pressure monitoring services. It collects blood pressure data of patients from at-home devices, applies algorithms, and assesses the fluctuations in the blood pressure. Physicians can be connected and provided with blood pressure data of their patients in order to facilitate their workload, enabling more personalized management of patients regarding medication and lifestyle indications.Amicomed can also recommend actionable and personalized lifestyle interventions such as daily diet and exercises via virtual coaching.

Amicomed

Winston is a men’s health telemedicine platform that treats common issues impacting men such as sexual problems, hair loss, acne, and cold sores. Winston allows patients to consult doctors, place orders for prescription drugs, and offers free delivery to the homes of patients.The Toronto-based company aims to avoid men deferring doctor visits or withholding sensitive information. The consultation fee is covered by the provincial health plan, but the prescriptions are billed to the customer.

Winston

Dialogue is a leading virtual care and well-being platform that provides comprehensive health services to organizations and their employees. Founded in 2016, the company offers an integrated health platform that centralizes various health and wellness programs in a single application, accessible <a href="https://www.dialogue.co/en/blog/dialogues-2023-year-in-review#:~:text=Serving%2015%25%20of%20the%20Canadian%20population&amp;text=How%3F,aspects%20of%20their%20well%2Dbeing.">24/7/365</a>. Dialogue's services include primary care, mental health support, employee assistance programs, and wellness initiatives. As of <a href="https://www.dialogue.co/en/blog/dialogues-2023-year-in-review#:~:text=Serving%2015%25%20of%20the%20Canadian%20population&amp;text=How%3F,aspects%20of%20their%20well%2Dbeing.">December 2023</a>, Dialogue's platform was accessible to around 6 million Canadians, representing approximately 15% of the country's population.The company saw significant growth in <a href="https://www.dialogue.co/en/blog/dialogues-2023-year-in-review#:~:text=Serving%2015%25%20of%20the%20Canadian%20population&amp;text=How%3F,aspects%20of%20their%20well%2Dbeing.">December 2023</a>, with a 34% increase in consultations across all aspects of well-being in 2023 compared to the previous year. Mental health consultations, in particular, saw a 67% increase.&nbsp;In <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/dialogue-enters-into-license-agreement-with-sun-life-u-s--824463104.html">July 2023</a>, Dialogue was acquired by Sun Life for an undisclosed sum, expanding its reach beyond Canada. This expanded service reach was estimated to cover an additional 600,000 members in the US. The acquisition was completed in <a href="https://www.sunlife.com/en/newsroom/news-releases/announcement/sun-life-completes-the-acquisition-of-dialogue-canadas-premier-health-and-wellness-virtual-care-platform/123792/">October 2023</a>, with Dialogue continuing to operate as a standalone entity.Key customers and partnershipsThe company has partnerships with major insurers and benefits providers to offer its services as part of employee benefits packages. Additionally, the company noted that, as of <a href="https://www.dialogue.co/en/pricing">August 2024</a>, it worked with over 50,000 companies across Canada to provide its services to employees.

Dialogue

Grin offers telemedicine and remote monitoring services for orthodontic needs such as braces and teeth straightening. Patients can conduct self-scans (using a Grin device made available to patients in collaboration with 3M) which can be connected to their smartphones and share the feed with orthodontists to access dental solutions. The company plans to go to a subscription-based model after the pandemic. The app also encourages patients to have a 40-second check monthly and share the scan with a dentist in order to allow patients to regularly maintain their dental hygiene.Grin is the only Telehealth disruptor covered on the hub that provides virtual orthopaedic consultations.Funding and financialsIn April 2021, the New York-based teledental platform concluded a seed funding of USD 14 million, and the funds will be allocated to develop additional functionalities by building out its technology. The proceeds will also be used to scale up its team, expand its geographic footprint, and add doctors to the company’s orthodontic partner network.

Grin

Real-time collection of patients’ health-related data using any remote patient monitoring device combined with general telemedicine services to reduce readmission rates.

A platform that facilitates the transmission of patient data to different locations for further evaluation and interpretation by medical specialists.

A digital platform that offers specialty care services to address the specific needs of a patient or demographic, including consultations where patients are generally reluctant to meet practitioners face-to-face.

Primary care through virtual consultations for general health-related concerns using a digital platform or mobile app.

Companies developing B2B software solutions for patient engagement, care navigation, practice management, and electronic health records integration to facilitate telehealth services for healthcare providers.

Companies that use GenAI as a core part of their product offering for Telehealth

IoT is used by most telehealth providers to operate virtual services

All telehealth players are involved in digital health via virtual offerings

Industry players offer varying degrees of personalization for each target audience

Some players offer technology and platforms to healthcare providers, converting physical-only services into virtual services

Specific telehealth offerings focus on diversity and inclusion, providing care to LGBTQ+ or BIPOC populations

Generative AI is used to streamline administrative tasks such as clinical note-taking

<div>
 Neura Health and ThriveLink, both AI healthcare solution providers, have each been awarded USD 100,000 in funding as part of the 2023 ADAPT program awards by UCSF Rosenman Institute. The ADAPT program aims to support early-stage healthcare companies by providing them opportunities to connect and collaborate with key investors, payors, providers, and employers.
 
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Neura Health

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