Major telehealth vendor MDLive announced this morning a new $50 million crossover equity investment from Sixth Street Growth. The company said that it has also obtained $25 million in debt financing from other unnamed investors.

WHAT IT DOES

MDLive provides a telehealth platform staffed by a network of certified clinicians capable of delivering virtual urgent care, dermatology, therapy and psychiatry services. Across the U.S., patients can sign up and begin using the service either through a browser or via the platform's mobile app. The company also partners with payers, employers and health systems to provide its virtual care services as a member benefit, or to extend patients' care beyond the walls of the hospital.

MDLive noted in the announcement that much like the rest of the telehealth industry, it too has seen a bump in business since the beginning of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Already among the largest telehealth vendors in the U.S., it said that virtual visits nearly doubled in the first half of 2020, while total bookings grew by over 300%. The company also highlighted more than 500% year-over-year growth in its behavioral health visit volumes through July, more than 350% for dermatology and over 80% for general medical care.

WHAT IT'S FOR

The company said it would be prioritizing the expansion of its Virtual Primary Care platform with these funds, and will also be working to launch new supporting products and services for its members.

"The pandemic has accelerated the rapid disruptive transformation of virtual healthcare delivery," Charles Jones, MDLIVE's chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "As the demand for MDLIVE's offerings has reached all-time highs, we remain focused on the expansion of a single, proven technology platform with the flexibility to integrate with devices and the capacity to leverage AI and ingest vast volumes of data necessary for proactive and preemptive care." 

MARKET SNAPSHOT

It was reported last month that MDLive is in the early stages of the IPO process, and would likely be targeting a listing in the opening months of 2021. By doing so, it would join a handful of recent public market announcements from competitors such as AmWell, which is set to begin listing this week; SOC Telemed, which is taking the SPAC route to the market; and Hims & Hers, which is also reported to be eyeing the SPAC approach for its consumer-focused health and wellness platform.

Alongside a bevy of funding deals for other virtual care-enabled startups (Ginger, Lemonaid Health and Heal, to name a few), MDLive's future moves also fall under the shadow of last month's Teladoc Health-Livongo merger. The telehealth company was already among MDLive's chief competitors, and with its purchase will add Livongo's virtual chronic care management capabilities.

ON THE RECORD

"Virtual care has been a long-term theme for our team, and in an increasingly competitive sector MDLIVE stands out as a scaled and differentiated enterprise technology platform providing high-quality, convenient and cost-effective care," Michael McGinn, partner and co-head of Sixth Street Growth, said in a statement. "Their offering accrues to the benefit of all healthcare stakeholders, including patients, providers and payers, and we are pleased to be partnering with their team as they continue to grow and successfully meet the increased demand for their services."