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Amazon takes another stab at telehealth
Just three months after revealing that it would be shuttering its telehealth venture Amazon Care, Amazon is announcing another foray into digital health: Amazon Clinic. The model reads a lot like existing direct-to-consumer telehealth storefronts like Hims and Ro, allowing patients to message with a third-party teleprovider about 20 health conditions — including common DTC targets like acne, allergies, and hair loss — and potentially receive prescriptions, which can be fulfilled through Amazon Pharmacy or another pharmacy. The company said the service would launch in 32 states to start, and won’t be accepting insurance for visits, my colleague Katie Palmer tells us.
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Maven scores $90 million in a funding drought
The closely watched womens’ and family health tech startup Maven Clinic raised a $90 million Series E this week in a round led by General Catalyst — a bid to protect maternal health in a post-Roe world, our Jayne Williamson-Lee writes. The round, which brings its total funding to $300 million and tips its valuation to $1.35 billion, is notable also because health tech funding overall has slowed as employers mull scaling back investments in virtual care amid economic uncertainty. But “regardless of what’s happening in the financial markets, the state of the maternal health crisis in the U.S. is more acute than ever,” GC’s Holly Maloney said. Read more.
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Speaking of General Catalyst…
…The firm announced plans to add 10 new health systems to its network of strategic partners, including Banner Health, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and Hackensack Meridian Health. These collaborations could encourage health systems to “work with startups, scale existing products, and even collaborate on new technologies,” the firm said. As my colleague Mario Aguilar points out, the announcement echoes Andreessen Horowitz’s recent partnership with Basset Health Network. It’ll be interesting to watch how venture firms use these partnerships to speed the development of their portfolio companies — and to attract the very best companies and partners to its stable.
Overheard at HLTH
Mario here, interrupting Mohana’s regularly scheduled newsletter with …….