Denver health-tech startup Plume raised $24 million in Series B financing to expand its virtual platform to transgender patients across the country, the company announced Wednesday.
Plume allows users to pay a flat monthly fee of $99 to use its platform. Members are connected with physicians who can prescribe them gender-affirming hormone replacement therapy online. The company said the funding raise would allow it to expand to all 50 states by early next year.
The round was led by Boston-based Transformation Capital. Also participating were General Catalyst and Townhall Ventures.
“With today's announcement, we are on track to reach our goal of increasing access to high-quality, gender-affirming care to patients across the U.S. in both urban areas and coverage deserts," Dr. Jerrica Kirkley, a co-founder of Plume, said in a statement. "Knowing the hurdles trans Americans face when accessing care, I'm encouraged to reach this benchmark."
Kirkley, along with Dr. Matthew Wetschler, founded the company in 2019 with the goal of increasing access to gender-affirming treatments. LGBTQ-specific clinics are often located only in urban areas, and many primary care providers aren't familiar with hormone therapy or willing to help, Kirkley, who is trans herself, told the Denver Business Journal in a 2020 interview.
A survey released in 2021 by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, found that 47% of transgender individuals — and 68% of transgender people of color — experienced at least one form of discrimination or mistreatment from a health care provider.
According to a Pew Research Center study released in June, the U.S. transgender population is becoming more visible. The study found that 42% of adults in 2021 knew someone who was transgender, compared with 37% in 2017. While 1.6% of the overall population identifies as transgender or nonbinary, the rate among young Americans is much higher. More than 5% of Americans ages 18 to 29 identifies that way, with most of them being under the age of 25.
"Trans individuals have unique medical, legal, and socio-emotional needs distinct from those of the broader cisgender LGBQ+ population that are commonly unmet by the status quo," Plume said in a press release.
More than 10,000 people have used Plume in the 42 states where it's currently operational. The states where the service is not yet available are: Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Kansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota and South Carolina.
Plume was operating in 12 states in 2020 and has continued expanding over the past two years. When it moved into New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Mexico and Wisconsin in March, Plume claimed it became the largest telehealth provider of transgender care in the country.
In addition to using the $24 million to expand into the remaining eight states, Plume also wants to use the capital to make services more affordable to patients. The company plans to work toward accepting insurance.
"We know Plume isn’t affordable to many in our community. We’re looking to change that,” Wetschler said in a blog post. “What the Series B is going to do is enable us to be in all 50 states, moving to ensure that all trans individuals can use their insurance to pay for Plume.”
With the money, the company also wants to expand into virtual primary care and provide more resources and support for transgender and gender-diverse people and their families.
