Text-based virtual care company 98point6 announced Thursday it had raised more than $20 million to scale its new licensing offering. 

The company also announced a strategic partnership with Washington-based MultiCare Health System, which will be the first to license the virtual care technology for its hybrid urgent and primary care service dubbed Indigo Health. 

Existing investors participating in the raise include the Growth Fund of L Catterton and Activant Capital. 

WHAT IT DOES

98point6 uses a text-based interface to deliver on-demand virtual primary care services. Patients can input information about their symptoms and an automated assistant will match them to a physician who can use photo, audio and video capabilities if necessary. Users can also receive prescriptions and lab orders.

The company added behavioral healthcare support early last year, and recently expanded the program to adolescents.

"Healthcare is in a period of radical transformation – the previous growth and cost reduction strategies of healthcare organizations, particularly health systems, will no longer serve them," Jay Burrell, president at 98point6, said in a statement.

"Our team has learned a tremendous amount in the past seven years as a standalone virtual clinic. I’m tremendously excited about this next stage of our business, as health systems leverage the 98point6 platform to deliver value to their patients and their organizations in new ways."

MARKET SNAPSHOT

Founded in 2015, 98point6 most recently raised two rounds of funding in 2020. It announced a $118 million Series E round in October that year, as well as a $43 million Series D in April 2020. 

Telehealth utilization expanded significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the trend has moderated since the early days of COVID-19, FAIR Health’s Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker found telehealth made up 5.4% of all medical claim lines in May this year.

There are a number of established companies as well as startups offering virtual care services, including TytoCare, eVisit and Zoom.

Meanwhile, major player Teladoc Health posted nearly $10 billion in losses through the first half of the year. The virtual care giant has also been expanding its primary care program, Primary360, with same-day medication delivery and at-home lab collection.

Amazon, which has lately been making big news in health tech, last week announced it would shut down its Amazon Care telehealth program for employers at the end of the year. The news came on the heels of the company's agreement to acquire hybrid primary care provider One Medical for approximately $3.9 billion.