Virtual healthcare startup raises $50 million
Healthcare Staffing Report
Virtual healthcare startup raises $50 million
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Wheel, a healthcare startup based in Austin, Texas, secured $50 million in a series B funding round.
The funding round was led by Lightspeed Ventures with existing investors CRV, Silverton Partners, Tusk Venture Partners and J.P. Morgan also participating. Wheel has now raised a total of $66 million, including a $13.9 million series A round in January 2020.
Before the pandemic, Wheel had developed a software platform that would vet, train and credential virtual care clinicians and match them with patients in real-time for other companies’ virtual care programs. The company grew 300% year over year amid the pandemic and expanded its clinician network by 450%. Wheel delivered nearly half a million patient visits in the last year; it also launched a white-labeled virtual care platform and expanded into behavioral health.
“Wheel is healthcare’s answer to the gig economy,” Forbes reported. It doesn’t provide branded telehealth services like the Teladocs of the world. Instead, it offers tools that enable health providers or even employers to offer telehealth services.
Michelle Davey and Griffin Mulcahey founded Wheel in January 2018 after working together in the telehealth industry. They plan to use the funding to expand and diversify Wheel’s networks including new specialties, triage, and frontline care navigation later this year. The funding will also be used to improve its tech stack, improve personalized care and provide stronger client support.