Seattle-based health care startup Zócalo Health has raised a $5 million seed round.
The funding, announced Monday, will support the startup's launch in California, Washington and Texas, all slated for this year, according to Zócalo Health. The company says its services, which are designed for Latino patients, are already available in California.
“Our current health care system fails to work with and respect the Latino person’s identities, care needs and preference,” Mariza Hardin, co-founder and head of strategy and operations at Zócalo Health, said in a release. “Working in health care my entire career, I didn't see people who looked like me driving health care solutions for my community. With our experience and network, we have the opportunity to build something better."
On its website, Zócalo Health lists seven open health care roles. Animo, Virtue and Vamos Ventures co-led the seed round, while Necessary Ventures, Able Partners and multiple angel investors participated.
Zócalo Health, founded last year, offers virtual health care appointments in both English and Spanish. The startup says its goal is to provide more access to health care for Latino communities that have traditionally had limited access to primary care. The company also offers a wellness membership that gives patients access to a community health worker. Zócalo Health's professionals include physicians, nurses and mental health therapists, among others.
Hardin co-founded the company with Erik Cardenas, who also serves as CEO. Both Hardin and Cardenas were working at Amazon prior to founding Zócalo Health, their LinkedIn pages show. Cardenas spent more than three years at Amazon and was most recently a tech leader for Amazon Care, while Hardin spent more than four years at Amazon and was most recently health and human services program manager for state and local government at Amazon Web Services.
“We founded Zócalo Health to embrace the values and traditions from our culture and Latino identity and make them the heart of the primary care experience. We are transforming healthcare in this country, as we can no longer rely on a one-size-fits-all system filled with inequalities,” Cardenas said in a release.
