St. Louis-based insurer Centene led a recent $33.5 million funding round for pediatric telemedicine startup Hazel Health, according to a Sept. 1 CNBC report.
Hazel Health delivers virtual care to students in grade school, but when the COVID-19 pandemic sent students to remote learning this year, the 5-year-old startup moved to providing at-home virtual care.
“We built what we’re now calling Hazel at Home, where you can now also have a doctor’s visit from your house from a laptop, or Chromebook, or from a cellphone,” Hazel Health CEO Josh Golomb told the network.
The $33.5 million from the series C funding round, which was also led by Owl Ventures and Bain Capital, will go toward expanding Hazel Health's services fivefold this fall. The startup is set to offer its telemedicine services in school districts with about 1.5 million children enrolled.
Partnering with Medicaid insurer Centene will help Hazel Health expand its services to more low-income families to get children connected with pediatricians who offer both virtual and in-person care, Mr. Golomb said.
"In most states if you’re on Medicaid you’re automatically assigned a primary care doctor, so most Medicaid families, theoretically have one," he said. "But only about half of the families tell us that they do. A lot of the role we see ourselves playing [is] ... bringing them into the healthcare system so they can actually have a dedicated PCP.”