CoverMyMeds and Beam Dental managers left this July to found their own startup to help patients with complex, high-cost chronic conditions take charge of their own health.
Redi.Health Inc. announced Wednesday it has raised seed funding toward building out its mobile software. The company had reported raising $1.3 million in an August regulatory filing, but did not disclose the final amount.
Cleveland-based Mutual Capital Partners led the round, with participation by Chicago's M25, Rev1 Ventures of Columbus and Plug and Play, a global organization with a Cleveland office.
"Columbus is a great market," co-founder and CEO Luke Buchanan said. "We absolutely love the city; it's growing in a really robust way and a relatively thoughtful way.
"We think we can scale here because we’ve seen it before with others."
Rev1's first investment from $10M pre-seed fund signals new stage for Columbus startups
The three co-founders, friends since meeting at Columbus tech events in college, took the entrepreneurial leap from maturing but still fast-growing health IT companies:
- Buchanan most recently was CoverMyMeds director of account management for the pharmaceutical manufacturer market, starting as account manager five years ago.
- Nate Rehm, Redi's head of business development, was national sales director for life sciences at CoverMyMeds, starting six years ago as an account specialist.
- CTO Jaimin Gandhi spent two years at Beam Technologies Inc., the second as associate product manager, according to his LinkedIn profile. The software engineer also ran a custom clothing business for five years.
The problem Redi is trying to solve was one they could see from their former roles, but not one those companies address. Over the next decade, Buchanan said, the number of Americans with three or more chronic conditions and taking five prescriptions a day is expected to grow to 90 million.
"There’s not technology out there from a wellness standpoint that meets the unique needs of those patients," Buchanan said.
Redi is a single mobile tool that puts more control in the patient's hands: Tracking daily medications, symptoms and other steps under the treatment regimen, while also getting access to educational resources, coaching and financial assistance from healthcare providers and pharmaceutical manufacturers, which are Redi's customers.
"I don't think there's ever a replacement for talking to a clinician," Buchanan said. "It's a replacement for having to track things manually – so you can have those conversations."
Most drugmakers have assistance programs including steep discounts and nurse counseling for their high-cost specialty drugs, but those programs can be difficult to find, Buchanan said.
"We can tell (patients) what support they're eligible for," he said.
A small group of beta testers have been using the platform and app, and the company has started making revenue.
Founded during the pandemic, the seven-member team works remotely, but has space at Rev1, 1275 Kinnear Road. Redi also has used Rev1's network of attorneys, marketing and other professionals.
Separately, Redi found Mutual Capital from a virtual demo day, and the firm made introductions to other investors.
Rev1 CEO Tom Walker said the venture development organization has been impressed by the team and investor group Buchanan pulled together.
"We invest in people," Walker said. "They're really bright, they're highly motivated, and we think they are solving a big problem that can help all of us."
