A Columbus startup making a free tool for patients to manage chronic illnesses has raised another $3.7 million toward a goal of doubling in size by mid-2023.
Redi.Health Inc. adds "thousands" of patients monthly to its app replacing manual processes for tracking medications, symptoms and steps in a treatment regimen, co-founder and CEO Luke Buchanan said.
"It all comes down to impact," Buchanan said. "If it's impacting their lives in a positive way, that only helps any revenue-driven channel. It doesn't make any sense to restrict (app access)."
Redi.Health's paying customers are pharmaceutical manufacturers. Distribution partnerships with larger companies such as GoodRx, Labcorp and Grandview Heights-based ScriptDrop Inc. widen its reach both to pharma companies and users.
New investor Refinery Ventures led Redi's latest round, with participation from returning investors MCP, Columbus' Rev1 Ventures, and M25. Earlier investors made the introduction to Cincinnati-based Refinery, which focuses on early-stage tech companies.
"Very quickly it was clear we had mutual interests and goals in serving the health sector," Buchanan said. "What we like about Refinery, aside from the expertise they bring to the table, is their network of connections in healthcare."
The round, first signified in an August regulatory filing, brings the total the startup has raised to $5 million since its 2021 founding.
“Redi.Health aligns with our mission in developing companies that change the way we see the world,” Refinery Managing Partner Tim Schigel said in a release. “Technology is revolutionizing healthcare, which is an industry that is long overdue for innovation. Redi.Health is helping simplify an extremely complex industry so patients can take more control of their healthcare journey.”
One of Columbus Inno's "Startups to Watch" this year, the company has grown to 15 employees, working virtually with coworking space at Rev1 Ventures. The new funding will go toward hiring to add features to the software as well as growing sales and customer support as it adds pharma clients.
The number of pharmaceutical customers has more than doubled and is poised to do so again, Buchanan said. Revenue is not disclosed.
Redi is not a marketing tool for pharmaceutical companies, he said. The company works with manufacturers' access and affordability programs, especially for expensive specialty drugs.
"The prescription is already written," Buchanan said, but the app helps overcome barriers to filling it or sticking to the regimen.
Redi.Health was founded in mid-2021 by former managers from CoverMyMeds and Beam Dental. Over the next decade, according to the company, the number of Americans with three or more chronic conditions and taking five prescriptions a day is expected to grow to 90 million.
Distribution partners offer connections to the Redi app when appropriate for the patients using those companies – ordering a prescription delivery via ScriptDrop, seeking a discounted drug price on GoodRx, or accessing nurse counseling or other case management through Labcorp's Patient Access Solutions business.
ScriptDrop, also founded by CoverMyMeds veterans, was an early partnership, Buchanan said, and he'd love to forge one with McKesson-owned CoverMyMeds as well.
"We'd be thrilled to work with them," he said.
