With telehealth booming amid a historic pandemic, one of Austin's fastest-moving telehealth startups has raised a new round of funding.
Medici, which provides text, video and voice chats between patients and doctors, announced Monday it has completed a $24 million Series B funding round. The investment was led by returning investors, including Barry Sternlicht, chairman of Starwood Capital Group; Howard Jenkins, of Publix; Kenneth Griffin, CEO of Citadel; and Nathan Kirsh, of the Kirsh Group.
The startup had previously raised about $46.6 million, including a $22 million Series A in mid-2018.
Medici was founded in 2016 and came out of stealth mode at SXSW in 2017. In March, the Austin Business Journal reported the company had 55 employees, with plans to add another 12 people by the end of the year. And that, the ABJ reported, could accelerate if the company secures new federal contracts to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
That funding and hires come during a time of tremendous growth -- the startup says it has 20,000-plus health care providers and patients using its app and platform. Medici said it saw patient registrations skyrocket by 1,409% from February to April as the coronavirus pandemic led to stay-at-home orders and the cancellation of most non-essential surgeries.
“We are thrilled to work with our investors to help impact the lives of another 100,000 doctors and their millions of patients,” CEO Clint Phillips said in a news release. “Unlike Zoom or FaceTime, Medici allows you to text, ePrescribe, Refer, group chat, bill, translate, triage, keep your number private, your consults organized, and gives $1 million liability insurance to physicians."
In addition to telehealth visits, Medici's tech includes an in-app billing function, e-prescriptions and referrals. It also provides translations, including medical terms, in 25 languages.
In a recent blog post on Medici's site, Stephanie Kreml, a former urgent care doctor who advises digital health and life science companies, wrote that doctors typically charge $45 per visit on the app, and he said that means the software pays for itself in four virtual visits.
"A typical month has 20 working days, so these virtual visits would bring in over $10,000 in revenue per month," she wrote.
Medici has also grown through acquisitions. It scooped up Austin-based DocbookMD in 2018. And it acquired Austin-based Chiron Health in 2019.
Editor's note: Due to an error in a news release, an earlier version of this story incorrectly listed Howard Jenkins as founder of Publix. He is the son of the founder. It also listed Nathan Kirsh as head of Jethro. He is a member of the Kirsh Group.
