Two competing telehealth startups on opposite coasts are joining forces.
San Francisco's Nurx and New York-based Thirty Madison announced Wednesday that they will merge and operate under the Thirty Madison brand. Terms were not disclosed, but Nurx was valued at more than $300 million in 2020, according to PitchBook.
The companies said they would have more than 750,000 active patients combined and expect to reach $300 million in revenue this year.
Nurx was founded in 2015 by Edvard Engesaeth and Hans Gangeskar as a direct-to-consumer health company focused on women's health. Initially it focused on reproductive and sexual health by making it easier for patients to get birth control, PrEP for HIV and STI tests delivered to their home. It has since expanded into other areas including dermatology, migraine treatment and covid testing.
The company has also offered emergency contraception prescriptions since 2016 but patients had to pick it up from a local pharmacy. In 2021, Nurx started offering overnight shipping.
Nurx CEO Varsha Rao will become head of the Nurx division; Thirty Madison CEO Steve Gutentag will be chief executive of the newly combined company.
"Pairing our understanding of our patients with the passion for solving real health challenges will allow us to have even more impact for patients,” Rao said in a statement. “With our continued focus on technology-enabled provider care, we will be able to accelerate and meet the new demands of patients, and the changing provider landscape, as telemedicine has become integral to healthcare.”
Thirty Madison was founded in 2017 by Gutentag and Demetri Karagas to serve patients with chronic conditions like hair loss, gastrointestinal issues, migraines and allergies. It offers several other brands including Keeps, Evens, Cove and Picnic. The company reached unicorn status last year when it raised a $141 million Series C at just over a $1 billion valuation.
Modern telehealth and prescription subscription services have become more popular, and accessible, with the ascent of the internet and video conferencing software like Zoom. Patients can get treatments for conditions as varied as mental health, hair loss, sexual health and weight loss, and even access hypnosis therapy.
On Tuesday, Amazon announced it was rolling out Amazon Care nationwide. The company launched the program in 2019 for its employees and offers both virtual and in-person health care services.
New York-based Teladoc is one of the oldest telehealth companies and has been providing remote care for two decades. Its stock dropped 6% after Amazon's news but has since rebounded.
