After care navigation company Transcarent announced last week that it raised $126 million in Series D funding, CEO Glen Tullman told MedCity News that he has “no interest” in selling the company. However, an initial public offering (IPO) — when a privately owned company sells shares of stock to the public — is a possibility, he said.
“I have run four public companies and have gone through three IPOs, so it’s a question I often get asked,” he said in an email. “Today, we run Transcarent like a public company, and we have a strong leadership team in place should we choose to IPO at some point in the future. … I can say with confidence that there will be great options ahead for us, and we’ll make any exit decisions for the right reasons.” The four public companies were CCC Information Systems, Livongo, Allscripts and Enterprise Systems (the latter three he went through IPOs with).
San Francisco-based Transcarent primarily serves self-insured employers and offers services for everyday health, pharmacy, behavioral health, surgery and oncology. Its $126 million in Series D funding was led by General Catalyst and 7wireVentures and included participation from new investors Geodesic Capital and Memorial Hermann Health System. Previous investors also participated, including Threshold Ventures, Kinnevik, Ally Bridge Group, Human Capital, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Alta Partners and Leaps by Bayer. In total, the company has raised about $450 million and has a valuation of $2.2 billion.
General Catalyst invested in Transcarent because of its technological advancements.
“Our continued support in Transcarent is driven by their technology, in what we believe is an unmatched integration of software, AI, robust data science, and tailored health guidance,” said Hemant Taneja, CEO and managing director of General Catalyst, in a statement. “This combination has sparked real change in the delivery of health and care, aligning with our founding mission: to empower millions in navigating the complexities of the healthcare system and achieve better health outcomes.”
With the financing, Transcarent will “double-down” on its AI investments, Tullman said. This builds on the company’s recent acquisition of 98point6’s AI-powered virtual care platform.
“Transcarent is already incorporating AI into both the physician and member experiences, but we will continue to leverage AI in additional use cases to continue to empower individual health consumers and improve efficiency for clinicians,” he said.
He added that the funding will support commercial growth and bring on new clients.
The Series D funding round comes at a time when many employers are struggling with point solution fatigue, and a lot of legacy digital solutions are battling financial woes. This shows the need for a platform that offers multiple services under one roof, Tullman declared.
“There’s no question that consumers and employers are dealing with point solution fatigue, and they are looking for one place to access all their health and care benefits, and everyone knows that healthcare costs need to come down, so incentives need to be aligned between those providing and paying for care,” Tullman said.
Transcarent has made a series of announcements over the last year, including partnerships with musculoskeletal company ViewFi and 10 health systems, such as Mount Sinai Health System and Mass General Brigham.
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