As digital health companies work to differentiate themselves with mergers and new features, another startup for managing chronic conditions is garnering employers’ attention.
Vida Health raised $110 million in a recent series D funding round. Insurers Centene and AXA Venture Partners also joined as investors.
The San Francisco-based startup offers app-based programs for managing a variety of common health conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety and depression. The company pairs people with coaches to help guide them through its programs, and also hires nurses, physician assistants, nutritionists and therapists to help manage their health.
A big part of what drew investors’ interest was Vida’s approach to managing people’s physical health and mental health concurrently, a direction the startup took even before competitors Livongo and Omada launched their own behavioral health programs.
“Vida is differentiated by its polychronic focus, addressing complex patient needs by providing a full-spectrum, holistic platform,” Fletcher Gregory, a principal at General Atlantic, said in a news release.
Since the beginning of 2020, Vida said its revenue has tripled. The startup primarily sells its service to employers and payers as a covered benefit, and names Cisco, Ebay and Boeing among some of its customers.
Centene also began offering the platform to people covered under its Ambetter individual market plans.
“We’ve seen positive outcomes in our partnership with Vida, including increased enrollment, member engagement, and health outcomes, and we are pleased to invest in Vida to help define a new standard for virtual care moving forward,” Centene’s senior vice president of population health and clinical operations, Kim Henrichsen, said in a new release.
Like many of its peers, Vida has seen a particularly big increase in demand for mental health services. In the last year, the startup said virtual therapy sessions had increased by 6,000%.
Vida plans to use its recent funding to expand its network of clinicians, mental health coaches, dieticians and licensed therapists. It also plans to build out its mental health coaching program, which would allow coaches to help people with things like sleep and mindfulness, while therapists would continue to manage clinical conditions such as depression and anxiety.
“Our mission is vast but simple: transform the lives of millions of people suffering from chronic mental and physical conditions,” Vida Co-founder and CEO Stephanie Tilenius said. “This new capital accelerates us toward our goal of impacting the lives of 100 million people globally through reversing the symptoms and costs of chronic disease. We’re thrilled to add marquee healthcare investors to help us scale our company and continue to develop the most efficient and innovative care solutions in the market.”
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