Another startup company focused on home-based care has scored tens of millions of dollars in initial funding.
On Monday, San Francisco-based Homeward announced its launch with a $20 million investment from General Catalyst. Homeward will be led by key executives behind Livongo, the digital health platform that was acquired by Teladoc in a $18.5 billion deal in October of 2020.
Homeward plans to focus on improving access to primary and specialty care in rural communities, partly through a home-based care approach. Leaders of the company are calling it the first comprehensive provider to take on full risk in rural markets.
“We believe that by combining easy-to-use technology, evidence-based care delivery, in-home and in-community services, and aligning the care model to the right incentives, we’ll be the first to offer a new approach that provides the high-quality care that everyone deserves – no matter where they live,” Dr. Jennifer Schneider, formerly of Livongo and now the new CEO of Homeward, said in a press release.
The $20 million comes from General Catalyst’s new $800 million Creation fund. The Creation fund will focus on investing in company creation and helping entrepreneurs build businesses in General Catalyst’s core areas of interest.
The venture capital firm and its “hatch strategy” played a role in helping Livongo grow into what it is today. It was also the driver behind early successes of companies like Kayak and Commure.
And as an investor in Sprinter Health and Ro, among others, General Catalyst is no stranger to home-based care either.
Collectively, the firm and its other VC peers have poured over $2.5 billion into various senior care and home-based care startups over the past few years, according to Crunchbase data.
The Homeward model
Homeward’s plan to increase access to primary care and specialty services will start with cardiology. Homeward’s team will be available both virtually and on the ground through mobile care units.
The team will also use in-home remote monitoring that can keep patients connected to their care team using cellular-based monitoring devices and virtual services. The idea is to better connect to rural members who often live in remote parts of the country.
By taking a value-based care approach, Homeward believes it will “embrace the responsibility and risk of improving the health of its patients as well as their care experience, all while reducing costs.” The startup says it will initially partner with regional Medicare Advantage (MA) plans as part of that goal.
Rural Americans make up about 20% of the population and experience significantly poorer clinical outcomes. Research shows that rural areas experience 23% higher mortality rates than urban communities, for example.
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