CareBridge, a startup that provides value-based care using technology, closed on $140 million in financing June 8 to launch the firm into "unicorn" status.
The company sends tablets to the homes of patients receiving home and community-based services so they can contact CareBridge clinicians — including physicians, behavioral health specialists and pharmacists — 24/7. Its aim is to reduce emergency room visits, hospitalizations and, ultimately, costs. The patients are on Medicaid or Medicaid and Medicare and have physical or intellectual disabilities.
"By helping coordinate care and provide 24/7 access to a clinician, CareBridge is helping individuals live healthier, more independent lives while remaining at home," said Brad Smith, executive chair of CareBridge and former director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, in a company news release.
The financing, led by Oak HC/FT, puts the valuation of the company at more than $1 billion, a milestone for startups known in the venture capital industry as unicorn status. CareBridge said it has grown from serving about 1,100 patients to approximately 19,000 over the past year and plans to be available in 16 states and Washington, D.C., by 2023. Four of the country's five largest Medicaid managed care plans are also co-investors.