Virtudent, a telehealth startup revamping how people see the dentist, just announced it’s raised $2 million in seed funding. Sparta Group LLC, the investment office of Desh Deshpande, led the round, and the venture plans to use the capital to expand its technology and operations teams in an effort to meet growing demand for its services.
Virtudent is looking to make routine dental care mobile and convenient. It has developed a portable dental office that uses telemedicine technologies to bring the dentist experience to patients’ workplaces or other pop-up locales. Hitesh Tolani, Virtudent’s Founder/CEO who is a dentist himself, hopes this digital health technology allows dentists to increase access to dental care for patients who are crunched for time, as well as those who can’t afford afford a traditional visit to the dentist.
“We believe there is a tremendous opportunity to redefine oral healthcare in the U.S. and Virtudent has all the elements to successfully improve outcomes while affordably increasing access” Desh Deshpande, Chairman of of Sparta Group LLC, said in a statement. “We are excited by the innovation and business model of Virtudent and believe it will be game-changing.”
Over the past year, Virtudent has been working on a local level to treat patients. As the company expands the reach of its services, it will be bringing routine preventative dental care beyond Boston.
We’re looking forward to making the routine dental visit vastly more accessible.
“Dental Disease is the number one reason why children miss school in America and 40% of Americans can’t access this basic healthcare need,” Tolani said. “The Virtudent model allows us to bring the same high quality care to all populations, whether busy employees here in Boston or school children in remote areas. This is the most rewarding aspect of what we do and we’re looking forward to making the routine dental visit vastly more accessible for all in this next phase of our company’s growth.”
Virtudent had its roots in the Harvard Innovation Lab and, in 2015, it won a $50,000 MassChallenge Gold award.
Tolani expressed his gratitude for the Boston startup community in an email to BostInno, writing, "We've had incredible support from Tufts Dental School, The Harvard Innovation Labs, MassChallenge, the investor community and forward thinking executives who want to be apart of new and innovative ideas. Boston is truly a cradle where healthcare companies can blossom.”
