Telemedicine is a rapidly growing industry and for good reason. Approximately 70% of people let 6 months or less pass since their last doctor’s visit. One of the most effective ways to keep up with our nation’s growing demand for medical care, especially those seeking expert medical attention, is through eConsultations. specializes in connecting primary care clinicians to top specialists. This allows primary care clinicians to receive instantaneous, individualized answers from specialists, thus helping patients avoid an unnecessary doctor visit to a specialist – a visit that many have taken many months to schedule with a top specialist. By eliminating the bottleneck of access to specialists, RubiconMD is ensuring that treatment plans can be timely and the healthcare industry can process more patients efficiently.
AlleyWatch sat down with CEO and Cofounder Gil Addo to learn more about how RubiconMD is connecting doctors to experts from over 120 specialties, the company’s expansion plans, and latest funding round. Since its founding in 2013, RubiconMD has raised a total of $40M across eight rounds.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
RubiconMD raised $18M in Series C funding. This financing round was led by Deerfield, who was joined by existing investors including Optum Ventures, HLM Venture Partners, Waterline Ventures and Heritage Provider Network.
Tell us about the product or service that RubiconMD offers.
RubiconMD’s eConsult platform offers primary care clinicians timely access to specialist insights across more than 120 specialties. With this tool, primary care clinicians can provide better care, improve the patient experience and reduce costs.
What inspired the start of RubiconMD?
My cofounder Carlos Reines and I both came to the table with personal experiences of not being able to access specialty care. Growing up, I watched as my grandmother repeatedly traveled thousands of miles between Barbados and Boston to speak with doctors after undergoing surgery for a brain tumor. When Carlos was 8 years old, his eye was critically injured while playing with his friends. After the accident, Carlos spent 3 years in and out of hospitals and visited doctors’ offices five days a week. Imagine how different those experiences would have been if doctors had access to eConsults.
That’s why we decided to focus on innovating primary care. By empowering primary care clinicians to provide the best care possible, eConsults save patients valuable time and money while improving their care plans.
How is RubiconMD different?
Out of all the innovation happening in the healthcare space, only a fraction of it is focused on clinicians, and an even smaller percentage is focused on supporting primary care. We wanted to change that. Our platform empowers front line clinicians to practice at the top of their licenses. When submitting an eConsult, PCPs can ask specialists in over 120 areas of expertise any question they may have. This not only improves the patient experience but also allows the PCP to continuously enhance their knowledge base and be better able to treat future patients.
What market does RubiconMD target and how big is it?
We are in the business of supporting primary care. Our ideal vision is that eConsults are a tool that all PCPs have access to and can rely on when they need it.
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What’s your business model?
We contract with primary care organizations and health plans to provide RubiconMD licenses to our end users. Our PCP users get access to unlimited eConsults across all of our specialties with each license.
How has the business and your role changed since we last spoke after your Series B in 2018?
While the business has continued to grow rapidly since we last spoke, we as a company have been very focused on making the eConsult product and experience the best it can be. And we’ve also added several experienced healthcare executives, including, Sarah Alexander as COO and Fred Ronnau as CTO, that have provided Carlos and I with a great amount of leverage, allowing us to focus on continuing to drive growth across our key markets.
What was the funding process like?
We had a strong foundation to work from coming into this round of funding. We already had a great group of existing investors and knew that Deerfield would be an excellent addition. And it’s rare to be able to add someone like Dr. Harris to your board. He’s someone we’ve long admired with tremendous experience in both the public and private sector. Working with our current investors to bring on Deerfield was a seamless process and we’re excited about the continued rapid growth that this enables.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Thanks to Deerfield’s experience, reach and commitment to realizing the future of healthcare, we were able to close this round without any major hiccups.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
At the core of everything we do is a deep empathy for our user, the primary care clinician. That commitment to primary care has resulted in strong growth in both revenue and user base, and importantly strong and sustained customer retention and advocacy. Our investors are excited about the continued potential for rapid growth and the tremendous untapped potential for eConsults in the market.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
Our priorities remain driving growth and expanding our footprint while continuing to improve the experience for our users. To support our growth, we are looking to grow our team by continuing to attract and retain top tier talent.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Capital is never the goal, the impact is. Scaling a startup is never an easy process. There are going to be peaks and valleys along the way. For Carlos and I, one of the biggest factors to our success has been never losing sight of why we started the company. That driving passion, fueled by our personal experiences, has propelled us through this journey.
For Carlos and I, one of the biggest factors to our success has been never losing sight of why we started the company. That driving passion, fueled by our personal experiences, has propelled us through this journey.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We will continue to expand access to specialist expertise and drive growth through eConsults. And we’ll continue to innovate to provide new offerings to enable primary care. And in the immediate future, we are carefully monitoring the COVID-19 situation and are looking to help provide the necessary infectious disease support for our PCPs and their patients.
Where is your favorite bar in the city for an after-work drink?
I have a newborn at home, so my free time is now spent caring for this amazing little girl and trying to sleep when I can.
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