Digital Health Forward

In this episode, we meet Dr. Vijay Yanamadala, Chief Medical Officer of Sword Health. SWORD Health is the world’s fastest growing virtual MSK care provider, on a mission to free two billion people from pain.

The company’s clinical-grade virtual therapy platform pairs expert physical therapists with FDA-listed wearable technology to deliver a personalized treatment plan that is more effective, easier and less expensive than traditional physical therapy. SWORD Health believes in the power of people to recover at home, without resorting to imaging, surgeries or opioids. Since launching in 2015, SWORD Health has worked with insurers, health systems and employers in the U.S, Europe and Australia to make quality physical therapy more accessible to everyone.

Launched in 2015, the company has raised approximately $324 million to date, with nearly $300 million raised in 2021 alone. In November 2021, Sword closed a $189M Series D financing round led by Sapphire Ventures with participation from new investors including Sozo Ventures and Willoughby Capital as well as previous investors including General Catalyst and Khosla Ventures. This round valued Sword Health at $2B. (Source: Bloomberg)

Dr. Vijay Yanamadala brings over a decade of clinical medical expertise as a world-renowned surgeon with a firm belief in reducing dependency on surgery through data-driven and patient-centered treatment plans. He has published over 60 papers focused on the safe and effective treatment of complex spinal conditions through advanced and innovative techniques and the use of multidisciplinary teams, for which he has received numerous awards. He is a graduate of Harvard Medical School (MD), Harvard Business School (MBA) and Harvard College (BA).

In this episode, Dr. Yanamadala and I chat about:

• How his early childhood experiences motivated him to pursue a career as a surgeon and what led him to join Sword Health
• Why over 50% of spine surgeries today are avoidable and unnecessary and why the least invasive & highest value care (physical therapy) is underutilized
• Sword Health’s approach to improving access to comprehensive digital MSK care and how their outcomes compare to traditional care

In this episode, we meet Vijay Kedar, Co-Founder and CEO of Tomorrow Health. Tomorrow Health is a technology-driven healthcare company changing the way individuals and families manage healthcare at home. They are partnered with over 125 health insurers and provider organizations to coordinate and deliver home-based care for their members. To support their ambitious vision, they have raised $32.5M from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Obvious Ventures, Box Group, Rainfall Ventures and CEOs and founders of Tenet Healthcare, DoorDash, Flatiron Health, Oscar Health, Quartet Health, Casper, Moat and PillPack.

In 2021, Business Insider listed Tomorrow Health as one of the Most Promising Healthcare Startups of 2021, according to top VCs.

Prior to Tomorrow Health, Vijay spent several years helping to scale Oscar Health — leading care management strategy and operations to support chronically ill patients through home-based interventions. He was critical in shaping the success of the company by executing on strategy, financing efforts, network development, medical management, regulatory affairs and more. He is an alum of Harvard College and Harvard Business School and made his way to Oscar after years in Private Equity at Goldman Sachs, where he evaluated $1.1B in investments across healthcare, technology and energy.

In this episode, Vijay and I chat about:

• How his experiences as an early employee at Oscar Health and navigating his mother’s cancer care ultimately led him to start Tomorrow Health
• What is driving unprecedented growth in the US home healthcare market and the biggest challenges facing each stakeholder in the ecosystem — DME suppliers, payers, providers, patients and their caregivers
• Tomorrow Health’s approach to building a holistic home-based care ecosystem, starting with Medical Equipment and Supplies
• What it means to Vijay to change the healthcare system from within and the importance of marrying innovation with distribution
• Vijay’s approach to assembling a world class team of advisors, colleagues and investors

In this episode, we meet Chrissy Farr, Principal at OMERS Ventures. Previously, she was a writer and frequent on-air contributor for CNBC, Fast Company and Reuters News, among other publications. She was raised in London, UK, and received degrees from University College London and Stanford University.

Over the last five years, OMERS Ventures has invested more than $340 million of capital in nearly 30 disruptive technology companies across North America, creating over 5,000 jobs, and attracting an additional $1.2 billion for portfolio companies. Their portfolio companies include: 360insights, AmpMe, Busbud, Citizen Hex, D2L, DCG, Fusebill, Hootsuite, Hopper, Interaxon, Jobber, Kaleo, Klipfolio, Klue, Leafsift, League, Mojix, Nudge, Ranovus, Rover, Shopify (IPO 2015 — NYSE & TSX: SHOP), Smile.io, Vidyard, Vision Critical, Wattpad, Wave.

Chrissy continues to write and share her perspectives here: https://ovsecondopinion.substack.com/

In this episode, Chrissy and I chat about:

• Chrissy’s personal story: from her time at Stanford to her experiences as a journalist and her love for research, learning and connecting with innovators
• Her approach to investing and thesis development, areas of digital health which are underserved/overlooked and opportunities in women’s health
• Digital health superlatives — Chrissy’s takes on the most disruptive healthcare company of the year, most interesting merger/acquisition, innovative early-stage start-up to follow, and her favorite news sources
• Predictions for digital health in 2022, reflections and words of wisdom

In this episode, we meet Dan Brillman, Co-founder and CEO of Unite Us. Unite Us is the leading outcome focused coordination technology company connecting healthcare, gov’t, and social services together to address the social determinants of health. Together, these partners are leading the care transformation movement towards whole-person care.

Unite Us recently closed a $150M Series C financing round led by ICONIQ Growth, valuing the company at over $1.6B. Investors in the round include Emerson Collective, Optum Ventures and Transformation Capital, as well as existing investors, Define Ventures, Salesforce Ventures and Town Hall Ventures, and several healthcare partners. This investment will ensure the mission-driven company is able to continue to deeply invest in community-based organizations to bring social care to the same priority level as medical care. Unite Us also recently announced the acquisition of personalized referral platform NowPow and leading analytics company Carrot Health. Unite Us and NowPow will add Carrot’s data-driven solutions to their community-based technology that predicts needs, enrolls clients in services, measures impact, and pays for community-based services through its nationwide network — creating a truly holistic experience for people receiving and providing care.

Dan graduated from Yale University in 2006 and worked in finance and consulting before joining the Air Force Reserves as a combat pilot, where he still serves today. After earning his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2012, Dan worked in venture capital in NYC at Scout Ventures, where he focused on investing and technological innovation. Dan co-founded Unite Us in 2013.

Dan is a recipient of the Jefferson Award for Public Service and was included on Business Insider’s “30 People Under 40 Changing Healthcare” in 2019. Most recently, Unite Us was named one of the top three companies in America on 2021 Forbes’ list of Best Startup Employers.

In this episode, Dan and I chat about:

• Dan’s personal story and path — from finance/consulting to joining the Air Force as a combat pilot, venture capital and ultimately, what led him to start Unite Us
• How Unite Us scaled, from the early days of serving the veteran population and in one of the most complex geographies, New York City, to serving hundreds of thousands of individuals in 42 states
• Why social determinants of health matter and the measured impact Unite Us’ platform has had on health outcomes
• What it means to take on something big in order to make long-term shifts in an industry and Dan’s 2022 ambitions for the company

In this episode, we meet Paxton Maeder-York, CEO and Founder of Alife Health. Alife Health’s mission is to improve the efficacy and affordability of IVF through artificial intelligence. Founded in 2020, Alife recently raised a $9.5M seed round, led by Lux Capital.

Founded in 2020, Alife recently raised a $9.5M seed round, led by Lux Capital. Other investment firms include Amplo, IA Ventures and Springbank Collective, as well as angel investors such as Anne Wojcicki, the founder and CEO of 23andMe; Fred Moll, the founder of Intuitive Surgical and Auris; and Amira Yahyaoui, the founder of Mos and Sequoia Scout.

Paxton Maeder-York started his career building surgical robots to fight lung cancer at Auris Health, which sold to Johnson & Johnson for $3.4 billion in 2019 and holds a bachelor’s in Biomedical Engineering and a Master’s in Data Science and an MBA from Harvard University.

In this episode, Paxton and I chat about:

• Broader trends and innovation in the fertility space to serve the 1 in 8 couples who face infertility challenges today
• How Alife’s technology works to improve each step of the in vitro fertilization (IVF) process to improve clinical efficacy and access, and reduce cost (less IVF cycles = less cost) for patients
• The early partnership structures Alife established to obtain access to large sets of embryo data to enable algorithm development
• The FDA’s approach to regulating AI algorithms in healthcare
• Paxton’s reflections on the recent capital infusion, the road ahead and entrepreneurship

In this episode, we meet Harpreet Singh Rai, CEO of ŌURA. ŌURA is the company behind the Oura Ring — a wearable health platform that delivers daily, personalized sleep, and overall health insights. With precise data and personalized guidance, ŌURA helps people better understand their health and live healthier, more fulfilled lives. To-date, ŌURA has sold 500,000 rings across 100+ countries.

ŌURA has raised $148M in total funding to-date, recently closing a $100M Series C financing round led by The Chernin Group and Elysian Park; health investors Temasek, JAZZ Venture Partners, and Eisai Co., Ltd.; growth investors Bedford Ridge and One Capital from Japan. Existing investors who participated in the round include Forerunner Ventures, Square, MSD Capital, Marc Benioff, Lifeline Ventures, Metaplanet Holdings, and Next Ventures. In 2021, Fast Company listed ŌURA as the #5 (out of 10) Most Innovative Wellness Companies of 2021.

Prior to joining ŌURA, Harpreet worked as a portfolio manager at Eminence Capital for 9 years and began his career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley. Harpreet majored in MEMS, Micro Electronic Mechanical Systems (sensor design) at the University of Michigan.

In this episode, Harpreet and I chat about:

• How Harpeet’s personal motivations and passion for technology and health led him to joining ŌURA and what it means to “own your health”
• Broader trends and landscape of the wearables industry — and how ŌURA’s focus on clinical validation and accuracy is different from other wearable companies
• How ŌURA has partnered with numerous sports leagues, including the NBA, WNBA, UFC, and NASCAR to optimize performance and monitor a user’s wellness
• What is required for wearables to reach their full potential: from consumer education to buy-in from healthcare stakeholders

In this episode, we meet Florian Otto, Co-Founder and CEO of Cedar. Cedar is a healthcare financial technology platform that enables a better and more transparent financial experience for consumers.

Cedar has raised approximately $350M in total funding to-date, recently closing a $200M Series D financing round led by Tiger Global Management, bringing the company’s total valuation to $3.2B. Existing investors Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Thrive Capital and Concord Health Partners also participated in the round. In May 2021, Cedar announced it had acquired OODA Health, a healthcare technology company focused on improving the healthcare administrative experience with payers and providers, for $425 million.

Prior to Cedar, Florian founded a daily deal company in Brazil (ClubeUrbano) that was eventually acquired by Groupon where he became Chief Executive Officer of Groupon Brazil, and was also an executive at Zocdoc where he drove the commercial adoption of the platform. Florian began his business career as a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company within their healthcare practice. Florian holds a MD, DDS and PhD from the University of Freiburg, Germany.

In this episode, Florian and I chat about:

• Florian’s career journey: from medicine/academia to tech entrepreneurship to leading in healthcare
• Why the consumer financial experience in healthcare is historically complex and inefficient
• Evolution of Cedar’s platform over time — starting with a focus on post-visit billing and expanding to a comprehensive interface between consumers and the healthcare system
• Impact Cedar’s platform has had on patient satisfaction, collection rates, time to collect, and healthcare costs
• The strategic rationale behind the acquisition of OODA Health and the vision for the combined entity moving forward
• Florian’s words of advice on entrepreneurship, business-building, and company culture

In this episode, we meet Matt Miller, Managing Director of the UnitedHealthcare/Techstars Accelerator. The accelerator is focused on healthcare innovations that support payer and care provider efforts, with an emphasis on digital health and wellness solutions. Techstars has a worldwide network of entrepreneurs, including more than 10,000 mentors, 10,000 investors, 1,600 alumni companies, and over 200 staff members. Historically, on average, Techstars companies go on to raise more than $2M of outside capital after the program.

Matt’s background involves a diverse range of pursuits: wilderness guide, startup founder, investor, mental health professional, and behavioral scientist. After his PhD, he worked for health tech startups prior to joining Johnson & Johnson where he promoted health outcomes through digital interventions. He joined Techstars in 2019 after a stint as VP of Behavioral Science at StayWell where he led research, health coaching, and product development. Outside of his work as Managing Director, Matt is a sucker for travel adventures, spending time in nature, and eating food in restaurants where no one else speaks English.

In this episode, Matt and I chat about:

• How his experiences as a founder, behavioral scientist, investor and mental health professional have formed his perspectives on digital health innovation
• What it’s like to lead behavioral science initiatives and implement behavior change techniques (BCTs) into digital health products at a large company like Johnson and Johnson
• The UHC/Techstars accelerator program: what exactly happens during the 14 weeks, the support and resources you receive as a founder, and what the application process looks like
• Matt’s insights on recent changes and trends in early-stage digital health entrepreneurship and what has led to successful, valuable companies

In this episode, we meet Sami Inkinen, Co-Founder and CEO of Virta Health. Virta is an online specialty medical clinic that helps people reverse type 2 diabetes & other chronic conditions safely and sustainably, without the risks, costs, or side effects of medications or surgery. Virta’s innovations in nutritional biochemistry, data science and digital tools combined with their clinical expertise are shifting the diabetes treatment paradigm from management to reversal.

Virta has experienced a growth rate of nearly 200% year over year, and now works with over 100 of the largest health plans, employers, and government organizations and treats patients in all 50 states. Virta recently announced a $133M Series E round, led by Tiger Global. The Series E financing follows a recent $65 million raise in December of 2020, nearly doubling the company’s valuation in just 5 months to $2 billion.

Previously, Sami was the co-founder of the leading online real estate marketplace Trulia, serving as its COO and president and board member until its IPO and eventual sale to Zillow Group. He also worked on Microsoft’s strategy team for MS Office, and as a consultant for McKinsey & Company within the software, telecommunications, and government sectors. As a venture partner at Obvious Ventures, Inkinen also invests in and advises healthcare IT companies. Sami holds a Master of Science in engineering physics from the Helsinki University of Technology and a MBA from Stanford University.

In this episode, Sami and I chat about:

• How Sami’s personal connection to diabetes and passion to advance health on a global scale led to the founding of Virta Health
• Why there has been no improvement in population-level outcomes for diabetes patients despite trillions of dollars spent over the past decade
• Virta’s approach to reversing type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases, leading to gross savings of $5,000/patient per year and sustained improvements in patient outcomes
• The required shift in telemedicine from episodic care to continuous care in order to achieve outcomes that were previously not possible
• Sami’s learnings from his journey as a serial entrepreneur and advice to others hoping to make an impact in the healthcare industry

In this episode, we meet Leo Grady, CEO of Paige. Paige is a global leader in AI-based software in pathology with a mission to drive the future of precision medicine. Paige is committed to transforming the diagnostics space by building an industry-leading portfolio of AI-based clinical applications, biomarkers and diagnostics.

Paige recently closed a $125 million Series C round, co-led by Casdin Capital, Johnson & Johnson Innovation and KKR, bringing the company’s total funding to $220 million since its launch in 2018. Paige has been honored as one of Fierce Medtech’s 2020 Fierce 15 companies and a New York Healthcare Innovation: Digital Health 100 Company.

Prior to joining Paige, Leo was the Senior Vice President of Engineering at HeartFlow, a medical technology company transforming the way cardiovascular disease is diagnosed and treated. Leo spent his early career at Siemens as a Principal Research Scientist and Line Manager, focusing on applying AI in clinical applications such as in vitro diagnostics. He holds a Ph.D. in Cognitive and Neural Systems from Boston University and a bachelor’s from the University of Vermont.

In this episode, Leo and I chat about:

• The founding story of Paige and collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• The trends and opportunities for digital innovation in the oncology pathology space, from screening/diagnosis to treatment selection and follow-up / monitoring
• How Paige’s AI technology platform, built on millions of digitized tumor slides, enables pathologists to increase their diagnostic confidence and productivity
• Leo’s reflections on driving change in healthcare