McLean’s Somatus Inc. has raised tens of millions of dollars — again.
The fast-growing kidney care startup has secured $60.12 million in new funding, the company reported in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and confirmed to the Washington Business Journal.
That capital will support the company’s ongoing expansion as it looks to “continue to address the needs of this vulnerable population,” a Somatus spokesperson told the Washington Business Journal.
The first sale of the equity offering was June 1, per the filing. And it brings the 5-year-old company’s total lifetime funding to a gargantuan $165 million.
Somatus, which is expanding a new comprehensive care model for patients with chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease, serves more than 150,000 patients across the U.S., up from tens of thousands a year ago. And the business is growing from all angles, now with more than 600 employees operating in 34 states, the spokesperson said. That’s a jump even from April, when the business counted 500 people across 25 states — which, too, was a significant increase from fewer than 300 employees in six states a year prior.
It comes just a year after Somatus closed a $64 million Series C round to scale its model nationally and invest in its technology. That financing came from lead investor Longitude Capital, as well as Optum Ventures, Deerfield Management Co., Town Hall Ventures, Blue Venture Fund and Flare Capital.
Somatus partners with health systems, nephrology and primary care groups and health plans to offer value-based care for patients at different stages of kidney disease. The startup has a mobile app for patients to monitor their health and works with health care providers and insurers to roll out dialysis and kidney care for more patients. And its larger vision involves ensuring a foothold in the fast-growing dialysis market while improving outcomes for these patients by meeting them where they are and preventing hospital visits and readmissions.
The company took the title of the DC Inno Tech Madness competition in April, after being named a Fire award winner of 2020 and an Inno “blazer” in the health care category.
Dr. Ikenna Okezie, CEO of Somatus, started the business in 2016. He’s a former group vice president for DaVita HealthCare Partners, a kidney care juggernaut with a 13,000-physician network, and previously served as managing director for D.C.-based health and education consultancy The Advisory Board Co. and as an engagement manager for McKinsey & Co.
Somatus joins a growing list of companies that have raised large hauls of late, most recently including D.C. polling and data firm Morning Consult with $60 million, Arlington auto refinancing startup MotoRefi with $45 million; Silver Spring personal finance startup Truebill also with $45 million; D.C. cannabis company Holistic Industries with $55 million; Rockville health-tech company DrFirst with $50 million; FiscalNote with another $40 million, Gaithersburg superbug hunter Adaptive Phage with $40.75 million and a flurry of others.
