D.C. maternal health startup Babyscripts has raised millions of dollars in fresh funding from a group of health systems and organizations amid heightened demand fueled by a pandemic-era surge in telemedicine.
The company, whose virtual obstetrics platform connects pregnant patients with their doctors, said Tuesday it has secured $4 million from what it’s calling its Strategic Partners Program. That network comprises existing Babyscripts customers Phoenix, Arizona-based Banner Health; York, Pennsylvania-based WellSpan Health; and the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network. It also includes the CU Healthcare Innovation Fund, part of the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus.
“From the beginning, we’ve set ourselves apart from other tech companies by partnering with physicians to make sure that we’re developing solutions that will actually be useful and improve outcomes, not just look and feel ‘cutting-edge,’” said Babyscripts co-founder and President Juan Pablo Segura in a statement. “This investment is validation that health systems see the value of our solution — and they’re willing to put their money on it.”
Babyscripts created the Strategic Partner Program so its health system customers would have “more skin in the game in adopting digital health and transforming how they delivered care through virtual experiences,” Segura said in an email. This raise represents the first phase of the program, with “room available to other interested health systems that want to invest in the future of health care delivery,” he said.
The capital infusion enables the company to develop new products, accelerate its work in value-based care and create more partnerships with large insurers across the country, Segura said.
Alongside their financial investments, the partners are giving product roadmap feedback, vetting new app enhancements and providing input as Babyscripts looks to step up population health and value-based care, Segura said.
It comes after a significant growth period for the business, which in March and April saw 600% growth in enrollment on its platform “as providers were looking to transition care outside of the clinic,” Segura said. “We also brought on a number of new clients who were specifically looking to stand up virtual care as a response to Covid.”
He declined to disclose revenue, but said the company is “growing aggressively.”
That has involved growing the startup’s presence on the West Coast with customers such as Banner Health and San Diego-based Scripps Health. Babyscripts counts clients in 27 states “and our goal is to get to all 50 states,” Segura said.
“One of our top priorities in 2021 is around health equity and ensuring that all women have access to our tools to improve risk identification and intervention, ultimately improving maternal health outcomes,” Segura said.
That includes growing partnerships with Federally Qualified Health Centers, public health clinics and Medicaid organizations. It also means improving its tools to screen for social determinants of health and maternal mental health.
The latest investment comes on top of more than $14 million raised to date, including $6 million in January 2019 and a $500,000 investment from Inova Health System’s Personalized Health Accelerator in March 2019. But the Falls Church-based nonprofit health system has since shut down that program, which “did set us back a bit,” Segura said. “We hope to get reconnected with the Inova Clinical Team and Leadership quickly, but the question depends on their desire to start leveraging virtual care experiences.”
Source: Babyscripts nabs $4M from network of health system investors – Washington Business Journal
