Atlanta, Georgia-based Sharecare, a wellness and patient engagement company known for its serial acquisitions, has received an investment from Summit Partners that brings the company’s total funding to $300 million. The company said a third of that figure was raised in 2017 alone, and Sharecare will use the latest capital to expand their workforce and invest in new strategies to continue growing.
Growing is what the company has been aggressive pursuing since its inception seven years ago. That has mainly come in the form of acquiring other companies to fill Sharecare’s mission of building out the most comprehensive suite of patient engagement tools. The company made its 11th acquisition in September 2016 with the purchase of virtual reality company BioLucid for an undisclosed amount. Just a few months before, Sharecare gained another 1,700 employees when it acquired Healthways’ population health business.
“With 11 acquisitions in six years, we have been thoughtful and opportunistic in scaling our rapid growth while adapting to changing market dynamics and needs – and we couldn’t have done that without the support of our incredible investors,” Sharecare president Justin Ferrero said in a statement. “With this latest investment, we are ideally positioned to pursue the opportunities and acquisitions that will fuel the next phase of Sharecare’s growth.”
Founded in 2010 by WebMD founder Jeff Arnold and Dr. Mehmet Oz, Sharecare has been working to become the go-to health engagement platform. Along with near-constant acquisitions, Sharecare also formed a joint venture in July 2016 with Guidewell, the parent company to several large Florida health plans. The company has also snatched up reputable talent: in March of this year, Sharecare hired John Solomon, the former vice president of enterprise and government at Apple, to serve in a strategic advisory role. Additionally, Sharecare brought former Towers Watson and Zipongo veteran Dale Rayman onboard to serve as SVP of actuarial consulting and business development.
"Our vision is we want to be the only health app on your phone. The same way you don’t have 12 apps to manage your money, you’re not going to have 12 apps to manage your health," Arnold told MobiHealthNews at the time of the Healthways acquisition. "We have made 10 acquisitions over the last several years putting together what we think the key pieces are that are going to enable you to manage all your health and wellness in one place."
