Digital health startup Yuvo Health has raised $7.3 million in seed funding, the company announced Tuesday.
Yuvo Health, founded last January, provides administrative software that federally licensed health centers can use to transition from fee-for-service to value-based payments. A lack of scale, regulatory burdens and limited resources make it difficult for these safety net providers to participate in shared-risk programs, limiting care coordination services and revenue opportunities for community health centers, a said CEO Cesar Herrera.
The startup does not charge clinics to use its technology. Instead, Yuvo Health takes a cut of the savings made through its services. The company’s founders all identify as Black, Indigenous, People of Color, which is key to earning the trust of the organizations and patients that Yuvo Health aims to serve, Herrera said. The executive identifies as Asian American and spent part of his childhood without insurance, he said.
“We are deeply personally connected and aligned with the mission of our FQHC partners, and that’s something our lived experience empowers us to do,” Herrera said. “Being seen as an organization that is only there to make a quick buck off the backs of FQHC partners is certainly not our goal. »
Yuvo Health plans to apply its investments to expanding its initial program into the New York market, developing its technology platform and increasing its partnerships with community health centers and health insurance companies. Herrera declined to disclose the number of centers and insurers currently partnering with Yuvo Health.
Investments are growing in digital health startups such as Yuvo Health and Main Street Health that are helping doctors navigate the transition from fee-for-service to value-based reimbursement. Yuvo Health differentiates itself by focusing on the Medicaid population, Herrera said.
While startups such as Cityblock Health, Belong Health and Brave Health have attracted funding recently, companies focused on Medicare have been more popular with investors than companies targeting Medicaid activities. So much money has been poured into primary care and insurtech startups eyeing Medicare patients that some analysts think the market could be ready to burst.
Medicaid represents the “final frontier” for cost reduction and quality improvement, Herrera said. And enrollment is at an all-time high, so states are looking for ways to contain costs, he said.
“For the vast majority of states, Medicaid spending is the number one expense item,” Herrera said. Everyone is really watching to find the best way to deal with it, people see that there is an opportunity.”
AlleyCorp led the funding round, with participation from AV8 Ventures, New York Ventures, Laconia Capital and Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, as well as angel investors such as Dr. Melynda Barnes, the company’s chief medical officer. Ro health technology.
Comments are closed.