This morning HelpAround, a digital platform that helps patients navigate health service options, announced that it scored $6 million in funding. IQVIA led the round with participation from Windham Ventures and other existing investors.
The company has noted that the announcement marks the initial closing of this founding round, and that the final close is expected to take place later in Q1 of 2020.
WHAT THEY DO
The Israeli startup works with healthcare stakeholders, namely drug manufacturers, to acquire and onboard new patients.
Based on a patient’s needs and behaviors, the platform can guide them to resources and support. The site can track and analyze patient data, prompting interventions. The service offers ongoing data collection, mobile-enabled patient access, proactive responsiveness, segmentation and reporting.
“Through our work with HelpAround, we are able to include an adaptive, mobile patient experience as part of our commercialization and clinical trial offerings,” Gregg Dearhammer, SVP of data sciences, safety and regulatory at IQVIA, said in a statement. “We believe their unique passive data and AI/ML technology will detect when patients are not adherent to trial protocols, enabling site coordinators and other HCPs to engage on patients’ behalf.”
The company got its start working as an app that connects people with diabetes in the same immediate area. In 2014 it announced a $500,000 raise. In 2017 PharmMedQuest announced that it made an investment in HelpAround, inking an agreement for the two companies to co-market HelpAround’s mobile offering.
WHAT IT’S FOR
This new investment will be put towards growing HelpAround's data science services in order to help patients find specialty therapies and clinical trials.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
The digital health market is seeing a rise of tools aiming to help patients find clinical trials and treatment resources. For example, last year Embleema launched a blockchain personal health record platform designed to help link patients to life science researchers. HealthWizz is now providing channels for users to sell their health records to researchers and pharma companies as well.
ON THE RECORD
“Our top priority is to provide patients with a private, secure experience that fits their individual lives,” Yishai Knobel, cofounder and CEO of HelpAround, said in a statement. “We are excited to have IQVIA lead the round and work with us on the joint mission to improve the lives of millions of patients who are struggling to follow their prescribed therapies.”
