Health technology and services startup Story Health raised $22.6 million in a Series A funding round to innovate and build out its platform connecting heart disease patients and specialty care providers both virtually and in the home.
The round was co-led by Northpond Ventures and B Capital Group, with participation from new backer LRVHealth and existing investors Define Ventures and General Catalyst. The fresh capital brings the company’s total funding to an estimated $27 million.
“Conditions like heart disease that require specialist care are extremely complex, debilitating and costly, yet our health system doesn’t have enough clinicians to handle patient demand. That’s why specialty care is the next frontier for digital health,” Karen Page, general partner of B Capital Group, said in a press release emailed to PYMNTS on Friday (Feb. 25).
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Page added that Story Health has a digital platform that enables specialists to improve patients’ lives by adjusting treatments based on continuous monitoring.
Launched two years ago by two alums of Google Verily — Nikhil Roy and Tom Stanis, who co-founded Verily — and cardiologist Ashul Govil MD MBA, Story Health mainly targets the healthcare system management of heart-failure patients. The startup’s immediate plans in 2022 are to grow into other areas of cardiology.
Accounting for over $200 billion in estimated annual healthcare costs, cardiology is one of the most expensive medical conditions in the U.S., according to the release, which cited CDC data. Cost reduction for care is inhibited by a shortage of cardiologists, underutilized preventive care and lack of follow-up care by patients.
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The Story Health platform has an ecosystem comprised of multiple healthcare tools linked by connected devices, all designed to provide critical data to providers while enhancing the patient experience. As a patient’s condition changes, artificial intelligence (AI) powers clinical decision support on the reduction of medications. Health coaches are available to assist patients with social barriers, such as transportation, affordability and mobility challenges.
“Building a comprehensive, highly engaging virtual specialty care solution for providers was already a huge achievement, but addressing those social barriers to care for patients was also incredibly important,” said Stanis, CEO of Story Health.
“Vulnerable populations like those on Medicaid and Medicare consistently see poorer health outcomes compared to other groups, but at the same time are the same people that face the most challenges accessing care. As more health systems look to incorporate support for social determinants of health, we want to be their partners in specialty care,” Stanis said.
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