Alto Pharmacy, a San Francisco-based digital pharmacy company, has raised $50 million in a Series C round led by Zola Global and Greenoaks Capital. Jackson Square Ventures, Olive Tree Capital, and others also participated.
With the financing, the startup plans to expand to new geographic regions and deliver additional products for chronic and complex therapeutic areas.
In responses to emailed questions, co-founder and CEO Matt Gamache-Asselin provided more context on how the $50 million will be used.
“Given our success in San Francisco, LA and Orange County, Alto plans to expand to new markets across the U.S.,” he said. “Colorado is a natural next step given Alto now has an office in Denver. From there, we will target primarily large markets on the East Coast to start.”
While the company currently specializes in dermatology, fertility, biologics and HIV, it will now deliver to patients with conditions like diabetes, heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
Additionally, Gamache-Asselin said Alto is hiring employees and will keep investing in its physician/pharmacy platform and patient mobile app.
Founded in 2015, Alto Pharmacy offers patients same-day delivery seven days a week for prescriptions. Using Alto’s services, consumers also get cost transparency for their medications as well as support in the app and over the phone. The startup’s provider platform and pharmacy management software seek to ensure physicians and insurers don’t have to spend as much time on administrative tasks.
“Alto rebuilt the infrastructure without the inefficient brick-and-mortar to align all the stakeholders, engage with the patient and ultimately improve health outcomes,” Gamache-Asselin said.
The San Francisco business has partnered with organizations like Stanford, UCSF and One Medical. Back in August 2017, it acquired the assets of smart pill bottle developer Round Health.
Looking ahead, Gamache-Asselin said Alto is “also planning clinical trials to further demonstrate how [its] technology and service can improve health outcomes.”
Alto’s approach is part of a larger trend regarding organizations bringing technology to the prescription drug space. One of the hottest new healthcare entrants, Amazon, acquired online pharmacy PillPack earlier this year.
Photo: AndrijTer, Getty Images
