It’s a wacky world today. Lynne Chou O’Keefe’s Devine Ventures has done 4 deals this week. Calm raises $75m it doesn’t seem to need, Story Health takes on navigation around specialty care, Centivo gets $34m to start a Collective Health rival, Ro moves into the home (literally) bringing diagnostics and Softbank money is back! The lucky recipient of their $80m is DTx company Pear Therapeutics about whom I have almost no opinion… Matthew Holt
THCB Gang Episode 34 Live Dec 3
Episode 34 of “The THCB Gang” was live-streamed on Thursday, Dec 3, 1pm PT/4pm ET. You can watch it below.
Matthew Holt (@boltyboy) was joined by some of the gang regulars: entrepreneur, MD & CEO of Suntra Modern Recovery, JL Neptune (@jeanlucneptune): Patient advocate & public speaker extraordinaire Robin Farmanfarmaian (@Robinff3), Consumer expert and current President of the Medical Board of California, Denise Pines; policy & tech expert Vince Kuraitis (@VinceKuraitis); and Consumer advocate & CTO of Carium Health Lygeia Ricciardi (@Lygeia)
It looks like the election is settled! The first COVID-19 vaccines is out in the wild in the UK. What does it all mean for the future of health care? There’s some optimism and some pessimism — but there were some gems in the conversation too!
If you’d rather listen to the episode, the audio is preserved as a weekly podcast available on our iTunes & Spotify channels.
#Healthin2Point00 Episode 170 | Olive, WithMe, Andor & more
Today on Health in 2 Point 00, Jess & I are together in Marin County before Jess sets off! On Episode 170, Jess asks me about Olive raising $225 million following a recent raise as well, WithMe Health closing a $20 million Series B, Andor Health getting an undisclosed amount in a Series A with an investment from M12, Microsoft’s venture fund, Upfront Healthcare raising $11.5 million in a Series B, and Voluntis – which is a publicly traded DTx company in France – raising $7 million. —Matthew Holt
#Healthin2Point 00, Episode 169 | They’re real and they’re SPACtacular!
Today on Health in 2 Point 00, It’s a whacky SPACy world, as a new SPAC rolls “UpHealth” and has me singing Bob Marley, meanwhile there’s $91m for remote clinical trial software player Medable, $76m more for Spring Health joining the throng of mental health companies, while K-Health gets $42m to introduce chat bot front ends to Korean pop music…or something like that. —Matthew Holt
#Healthin2Point 00, Episode 168 | Is Amazon taking over the world of healthcare?
Goodbye health insurance, hello Amazon Prime membership! Today on Health in 2 Point 00, we talk about all the Amazon news now that they’re moving into pharmacy via Amazon Prime. Jess and I also discuss AliveCor raising $65 million for its personal EKG technology and Talkspace acquiring Lasting, a relationship counseling app. Levels raises $12 million in a seed round, adding more fun things you can do with your CGM, and another SPAC takes a company public—Barry Sternlicht’s SPAC is acquiring Cano Health at a $4.4 billion valuation. —Matthew Holt
#Healthin2Point00, Episode 167 | Bridge Connector, Togetherall, Solv Health & more
Today on Health in 2 Point 00, the big news is about another COVID vaccine… or is it the collapse of the telehealth and digital health market as we know it? On Episode 167, Jess asks me about Bridge Connector shutting down 2 months after getting a $25.5 million raise, UK-based online mental health platform Togetherall raising $10 million, Cerner partnering with Well Health for provider-patient communication services, Solv Health—the OpenTable for healthcare—raising $27 million, and Springtide raising $18.1 million for its clinic and platform for children with autism. —Matthew Holt
The Catalyst @ Health 2.0/Wipfli Survey on the State of Digital Health
By MATTHEW HOLT
Catalyst @ Health 2.0, supported by professional services firm Wipfli, is launching a survey about the state of Digital Health. We hope to get a comprehensive analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on digital health companies and the rest of the ecosystem. This survey should take under 8 minutes to complete (and probably less). For your time we will get you a copy of the results when they are released. As an added bonus TWO respondents drawn at random who complete the survey will get advertising for their company for 6 months on The Health Care Blog (worth $5,000).
We are interested in hearing from leaders working in digital health companies, or those connected to digital health in health systems, payers, life sciences, consulting or investment companies.
To take the survey CLICK HERE
NOTE–None of the data from this survey will be shared by Catalyst @ Health 2.0 (even with our friends at Wipfli) other than as aggregate survey results. So you can be assured that your answers are completely confidential.
Matthew Holt is Co-Chairman of Catalyst @ Health 2.0 & Publisher of THCB
#Healthin2Point00, Episode 166 | $100 million, scandal, & more
Today on Health in 2 Point 00, we have scandal, drama, intrigue, $100 million and murder! Wait, no; not murder. On Episode 166, we catch up on more deals before Jess gets carried away again. The $100 million goes to Carbon Health in a Series C, which is another Bay Area-based primary care startup; they’re doing a lot of work in COVID testing and growing fast. Next we have many health plans uniting with Cigna Ventures, Humana, and Anthem all investing in Buoy Health which just raised $37.5 million in a Series C. That leads us to a scandal with the former CEO of Navigating Cancer suing Merck’s Global Health Innovation Fund. Finally, in the world of DTx, NightWare has received FDA clearance for its Apple Watch app designed to wake people with PTSD up from nightmares. —Matthew Holt
Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 165 | Centene, Koa Health, Eko and Medically Home
Today on Health in 2 Point 00, there is so much to talk about between the election, the Affordable Care Act, and Pfizer’s COVID vaccine news. On Episode 165, we talk about how this is impacting the markets and cover more deals. ACA darling Centene has acquired Apixio, Koa Health spins out from Telefónica and gets $16.5M in initial funding, Eko raises $65 million in a Series C for their connected stethoscope and ECG, and Medically Home raises $40 million in another continuous clinic play, bringing their total to $65 million. —Matthew Holt
THCB Gang Episode 31 11/5
Episode 30 of “The THCB Gang” was live-streamed on Thursday, November 5th. Watch it below!
Matthew Holt (@boltyboy) was joined by regulars, CEO of Day Health Strategies Rosemarie Day (@Rosemarie_Day1), medical historian & health economist Mike Magee MD (@drmikemagee), fierce patient activist Casey Quinlan (@MightyCasey), writer Kim Bellard (@kimbbellard), and patient & entrepreneur Robin Farmanfarmaian (@Robinff3). The conversation revolved around the underlying value structures in America, what a Republican Senate looks like for the ACA, and how will the (at the time likely but not certain) Democratic Administration change the narrative around health policy.
If you’d rather listen to the episode, the audio is preserved as a weekly podcast available on our iTunes & Spotify channels — Zoya Khan
