Genomics company Helix pulls in $50M,Thirty Madison scores $140M and hits unicorn status, and more digital health fundings

Also: Phil scores $100 million for its prescription refill platform and Synchron rakes in $40 million.
By Laura Lovett
03:53 pm
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Consumer genomics company Helix landed $50 million in a Series C funding round led by Warburg Pincus, DFJ Growth, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, Mayo Clinic and Temasek.

Helix is able to analyze customers' DNA and give them insights into their health and heritage, based on the user request. Users submit one sample of DNA, which the company stores and is able to pull when the client requests further insights.

This new infusion of cash will go toward growing the company's population genomics tool, which is used by life science companies and payers, as well as for public health efforts for COVID-19 surveillance.

"In healthcare, the goal is to achieve more personalized, preventative and population-based healthcare. A central part of this is identifying people at risk for genetic conditions earlier and more broadly," Amr Kronfol, managing director at Warburg Pincus, said in a statement. "Helix has a proven and tested platform for generating high-quality genomic data,  securing it, and making it portable so that it can provide a lifetime of insights to health systems, life sciences companies, and payers all working toward a healthier world."


Chronic care management platform Thirty Madison raked in $140 million in Series C funding. HealthQuest Capital led the round, with participation from Mousse Partners, Bracket Capital, Polaris Partners, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Northzone and Greycroft.

According to Thirty Madison, this new investment pushes the company into unicorn status with a valuation of over $1 billion and a total raise topping $210 million. This new raise comes less than a year after the startup closed a $47 million round of funding.

Through virtual doctor visits, users can order a range of drug treatments for each chronic condition it serves.

The company plans to use the new funds to expand its specialist-level care, including launching new brands focused on a variety of conditions.

"We envision a future where the healthcare system puts the patient first and that requires a complete reinvention of the experience so that it is high-quality, accessible, and even enjoyable," Steven Gutentag, co-founder and CEO of Thirty Madison, said in a statement. "We're building a company where every individual with a chronic condition can turn to us for high-impact specialty care that significantly improves the way they live their life every single day. We're excited to have HealthQuest as our partner to accomplish this mission, as their deep expertise and relationships within the healthcare ecosystem will accelerate us forward."


Phil, a prescription refill and delivery platform, scored $100 million in a strategic growth investment from Warburg Pincus. The company has developed a tool to automate physician, payer, pharmacy workflows while helping patients schedule refills.

The startup plans to use the new funds to speed up the development of its products and grow its customer base.

As part of the funding news, Warburg Pincus Director Fred Hassan is joining Phil's board.

"The increasing demand for cost-effective, technology-enabled solutions, paired with the shift towards specialty medications in the go-forward pharmaceutical pipeline has enabled Phil to emerge as a disruptor in the space, providing a differentiated business model, grounded in modern technology," Andrew Park, managing director at Warburg Pincus, said in a statement.

"We believe our investment will help advance Phil's technology roadmap and are excited to partner with Deepak and the company in its next phase of growth," Pranav Verma, vice president at Warburg Pincus, said in a statement.


Boston-based startup XRHealth, the maker of health-focused virtual and augmented reality tools, scored $9 million in funding from Discount Tech.

The startup calls itself an "extended reality" company and has made virtual health clinics that employ both VR and AR tools, as well as data analytics. The new money will go toward expanding XRHealth's sales and marketing initiatives in the U.S., Australia and Israel.

"XRHealth's extended reality technology treats patients needing physical therapy, occupational therapy or seeking relief from Parkinson's symptoms, pain, stress & anxiety, and many other conditions, and has proven successful outcomes," Eran Orr, founder & CEO of XRHealth, said in a statement. "The combination of engaging VR/AR games, personal one-on-one video sessions with therapists, and receiving treatment in the comfort of home creates a pathway for success for patients to complete their therapy and achieve remarkable results."


New York-based Synchron landed $40 million in Series B funding for its minimally invasive implantable brain-computer interface tech. To date, the company has raised a total of $59 million.

The round was led by Khosla Ventures and is expected to fuel a clinical study in the U.S. of Synchron's Stentrode system.

The goal of the technology is to give individuals with paralysis the ability to control digital devices through thoughts.

"We believe Synchron’s minimally invasive approach, which brings the concept of commonly-used stents into the 21st century, will be defining for the future of the brain-machine interface," Dr. Alex Morgan, partner at Khosla Ventures, said in a statement. “My uncle suffered a stroke and the resulting paralysis confined him to a wheelchair with limited use of his arms, making Synchron's near-term focus on paralysis a mission that resonates strongly.”


NUE Life Health, a digital mental health startup that dips into the psychedelic space, scored $3.3 million in seed funding, according to TechCrunch.

The company created a companion app to help guide users through their psychedelic-assisted therapies, including a home-based ketamine treatment. Additionally, the app is able to collect information about the user that could be helpful to their therapy.

The company did not specify what the new funds would be used for.

 

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