Houston-based health technology firm Koda Health plans to grow after closing a seed funding round.
Koda Health's $3.5 million round was led by Austin-based Ecliptic Capital, the company announced Feb. 7. Headwater Ventures, Sigmas Capital, CRCM and angel investors also participated in Koda Health's seed round.
The company develops a platform for planning advanced medical care. The platform takes in patient needs and care preferences and generates all of the necessary legal documents, like advance directives for emergency treatments. Using Koda Health's platform, patients also can witness or notarize documents to be sent to attorneys.
"Understanding patients’ preferences for their future care can be used to help systems prepare for the needs of their aging population and ensure they deliver health care that is aligned with patient and family preferences," said Dr. Desh Mohan, co-founder and chief medical officer at Koda Health.
Koda Health CEO Tatiana Fofanova added: "Most Medicare beneficiaries can’t afford traditional approaches to planning for future care, like estate attorneys and direct-to-consumer solutions. But these are conversations and legal documents that are fundamental to navigating health care."
Using proceeds from the seed funding round, Koda plans to double its headcount over the next six months, the firm said. However, the company's current headcount was not immediately available; the Houston Business Journal has reached out for more information.
Koda also plans to expand operations to all 50 states.
"Koda Health helps vulnerable people navigate and communicate difficult decisions about their health care journey. So, when hiring, we look for empathetic people who are phenomenal communicators," Fofanova said.
Koda was incorporated in March 2020 and born out of the Texas Medical Center's Biodesign program, which deploys post-grads in medicine, engineering, computer science and business into clinical settings to identify solutions to chronic issues impacting the health care industry.
The company has also received support from the National Science Foundation and the UnitedHealthcare Accelerator Program Powered by Techstars, which embeds health tech companies with UHC executives. Koda was awarded a $50,000 investment prize from the Houston Angel Network during the Venture Houston pitch competition in early 2021.
