I realize it's been quite a while since I taught - or was in school myself - but I'm distressed…
Morning Headlines 3/23/21
Digital Health Startup Ro Raised $500 Million At $5 Billion Valuation
Ro, which now markets itself as a digital health clinic, raises $500 million in a Series D funding round that brings its total raised to $876 million.
Clearlake, Insight-backed Appriss snags PatientPing
Appriss, known in healthcare for its prescription drug monitoring program interface capabilities, acquires patient event notification vendor PatientPing in a $500 million deal.
Evidation Raises $153M to Scale Virtual Health Capabilities of Achievement™ Platform
Data aggregation and analytics company Evidation Health will use a Series E funding round of $153 million to offer more virtual health programs as part of its digital health research network.
Ro’s founder Zachariah Reitano with a prior experience of being a founder at what seems like a mostly defunct YC funded Shout Inc. and some odd jobs after his BA at Columbia claims to TechCrunch (https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/22/ro-raises-500m-to-grow-its-remote-and-in-home-primary-care-platform/):
“They say, ‘Oh, healthcare is a $4 trillion market – it’s so massive.’ But that’s the worst thing in the entire world; it’s awful how large it is. And I think what we have the opportunity to cut it in half with technology.”
So, watch out world! Ro is out to cut healthcare by $2 trillion.
He further claims that: “While Ro doesn’t work with insurance currently, Reitano points out that he’s not against the concept entirely” (thank for letting us exist, exhaled UnitedHealthCare, Anthem, Aetna, Cigna and Humana)
And there’s this gem: “he just says that health insurance as it exists now doesn’t actual work as intended, since it’s meant to pool risk against an, expensive, uncertain and rare outcome.” Duh! That’s the definition of insurance in every industry.
Boy! I wish I had the [misplaced] confidence of a well connected, well funded white male.