Allina Health has partnered with Flare Capital Partners, a Boston-based health care technology venture capital firm of which Advocate Aurora Health Care is an investor, to spin off a new company called Inbound Health to help health systems to offer hospital-at-home and nursing-at-home programs.
As part of the launch, announced Tuesday, the VC firm is leading a $20 million Series A financing round, the company’s new CEO, Dave Kerwar, said in an interview. The company intends to use the funds to further develop its technology platform, which had previously operated within the Allina Health system since 2020.
Kerwar did not disclose the other investors, but did say Minneapolis-based Allina Health remains a part-owner of the company. Allina Health is a health care provider serving Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
Flare Capital has backed several health care technology companies, including Minneapolis-based Bright Health Group Inc. Its investors include Advocate Aurora, which has co-headquarters in Milwaukee and suburban Chicago, and the president of Advocate Aurora Enterprises, Scott Powder, serves on Flare Capital's industry advisory board.
Inbound Health’s platform provides health systems, like Allina Health and others, with pathways to provide at-home care for patients. It offers virtual care teams, biometric monitoring, engagement and workflow technology, supply chain partners, analytics and tailored payment models with health plans.
Inbound Health's platform has already served more than 4,200 patients with 185 primary diagnoses as part of Allina Health. The company has also already began generating revenue, Kerwar said, though he did not disclose how much.
Kerwar previously helped lead other health care companies, including most recently as the chief product officer and head of consumer digital innovations at New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System. Prior to that, he led business development for Aetna’s joint venture division, according to his LinkedIn page.
The new company will plant its operational headquarters in Minneapolis, connected to Allina Health’s offices, and open a development headquarters elsewhere by early 2023, Kerwar said. Currently leasing employees from Allina, Inbound Health plans to hire about 100 of its own employees within the next 18 months. Over half of those would be based in Minneapolis, the CEO said.
