45% of Americans have at least one chronic condition with a total cost of $3.7T per year. The most common form of treatment is medication. Thirty Madison is a healthcare company that helps people with chronic conditions access high-quality virtual treatment options provided by specialists. The company operates a growing family of brands that address a number of common treatable conditions. Among them are Keeps (hair loss), Cove (migraines), Even (gastrointestinal conditions), and Picnic (allergies). In 2020, the company more than tripled its revenue and team size, serving hundreds of thousands of patients across its various lines, fulfilling the accelerated demand for telehealth solutions in the wake of the pandemic.
AlleyWatch caught up with CEO and Cofounder Steven Gutentag to learn more about the inspiration for the business, the company’s strategic plan, the latest round of funding, which brings the total funding raised to $210M and comes at a $1B+ valuation, and much, much more.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
Our Series C round was led by our new investor HealthQuest Capital. Mousse Partners and Bracket Capital were also new investors who participated in the funding, along with existing investors Polaris Partners, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., Northzone, Greycroft, and others.
Tell us about the product or service that Thirty Madison offers.
The amount of money that the U.S. spends on healthcare — more than $2 trillion a year, far more as a percent of GDP than other OECD countries spend — is a fairly common talking point in the healthcare industry. But less well-known is the fact that the U.S. spends approximately 75%, or more than $1.6 trillion, of that amount on treating chronic conditions.
This is where Thirty Madison comes in. We know how fragmented and frustrating chronic care can be — we’ve witnessed the impact of the system on patients’ health and wellbeing — so we’re trying to make it better every day by being the premier healthcare company for people living with chronic conditions.
Our unique care model delivers accessible, affordable care, and superior outcomes for hundreds of thousands of patients. This specialized care model is powered by our proprietary platform: the technology, services, and physical infrastructure needed to provide high-quality care to an increasing number of patients. With Keeps for men’s hair loss, Evens for gastrointestinal conditions, Cove for migraine, and Picnic for allergies, we offer an extensible solution that serves patients across the broad spectrum of chronic conditions.
What inspired the start of Thirty Madison?
When my cofounder, Demetri Karagas, and I started Thirty Madison four years ago, we were motivated by personal healthcare experiences. We knew firsthand that healthcare for chronic conditions can be fragmented, confusing, and inaccessible. We realized that the only way to improve the chronic care experience was to relentlessly put the patient first. With Thirty Madison, we’re working toward 1) ensuring the care experience for people with chronic conditions is high quality, accessible, and even enjoyable; 2) pushing ourselves to build an integrated, specialized care platform that can rapidly scale to new conditions; and 3) striving for access for all to provide care to as many people as possible. We envision a future in which every American who copes with a chronic condition can access affordable care that improves their lives.
How is Thirty Madison different?
Our unique care model is our core differentiator. We combine specialist-level telehealth visits and digital chronic condition management with a special focus on providing an engaging brand experience. We can apply this model to low acuity conditions, like hair loss, and high acuity conditions, like migraine. It’s not solely about delivering a treatment or a prescription to patients — we offer an end-to-end solution that drives better outcomes and a better patient experience.
What market does Thirty Madison target and how big is it?
Over 120 million Americans have been diagnosed with a chronic condition. But currently, one in two people suffering from chronic conditions have unsatisfactory levels of disease control. And to make matters worse, more than 30% of adults in the U.S. have faced cost-related barriers to care in the past year. Those statistics are glaring. The opportunity to fundamentally change the way we treat chronic conditions goes beyond just the size of the target market — it’s also the massive opportunity to tremendously improve the patient experience, from start to finish.
What’s your business model?
Our business model is driven by our patient-first approach: this includes a subscription-based offering that allows patients to receive specialist-level care to help them every single step of the way, treatment plans to address their specific needs, and ongoing, longitudinal care. We’re not just a venue for getting a prescription or a drug delivered to your door. We are an entirely new model of healthcare for people managing their chronic conditions. Our goal is to give every patient the freedom to make the best decision for them at an affordable price. To reach as many patients as possible, we’re also working with employer and payor networks to expand our treatment offerings.
How has COVID-19 impacted your business?
We saw an uptick in demand in treating chronic conditions focused on the patient through virtual care at Thirty Madison: our revenue tripled in 2020. And within the last year, Keeps became the largest direct-to-consumer brand for men’s hair loss, with patients reporting a 92% medication adherence rate, far above average; Cove’s migraine program has had 77% of its patients report an improvement in migraine severity; Evens expanded its treatment offering to better serve those with gastrointestinal conditions; and we launched Picnic, our newest brand with a personalized approach to treat allergies.
COVID made it abundantly clear that consumers have a choice: They can ask themselves, what are the best options for them and their health? That puts the onus on health companies to prove how they offer a better option and high-quality experience. It’s up to us to make that experience worthwhile for patients.
What was the funding process like?
As a result of the pandemic, the level of interest to invest in companies changing healthcare has rapidly increased. While funding is never an easy process, we were lucky to have the pieces come together fairly quickly. We were thrilled to have the opportunity to work with HealthQuest Capital and all of our other investors on this incredibly exciting moment for Thirty Madison.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
It’s always good to fundraise when you don’t need the capital. We were really fortunate with this opportunity. After our Series B raise, we didn’t need to raise again — instead, we chose to pursue Series C to accelerate our growth, our mission, and our vision. But obviously, fundraising takes time. So being able to manage growing the business while having a strong team in place definitely helped us get to where we are today.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Since we raised our Series B last year, we made amazing progress on a few key initiatives. First, we’ve hired a fantastic team within the company. In March 2020, we had just over 50 team members. Since then, we’ve grown to over 180 team members, more than tripling during the pandemic year.
In terms of business growth, each of our brands experienced big wins in the last 12 months. Keeps, our men’s hair loss offering, saw revenue triple from 2019 to 2020. Cove, focused on migraine, grew by a factor of seven, while doubling down on its data-driven value proposition. Evens, our offering focused on gastrointestinal health support, began to expand beyond acid reflux and GERD by launching new products, including supplements and other support for a broader range of digestive symptoms. This year, we were proud to launch Picnic, our offering focused on allergic rhinitis.
The best part of our growth is that the Series C raise is really just the beginning of our mission to change healthcare for people with chronic conditions.
Since we raised our Series B last year, we made amazing progress on a few key initiatives. First, we’ve hired a fantastic team within the company. In March 2020, we had just over 50 team members. Since then, we’ve grown to over 180 team members, more than tripling during the pandemic year.
In terms of business growth, each of our brands experienced big wins in the last 12 months. Keeps, our men’s hair loss offering, saw revenue triple from 2019 to 2020. Cove, focused on migraine, grew by a factor of seven, while doubling down on its data-driven value proposition. Evens, our offering focused on gastrointestinal health support, began to expand beyond acid reflux and GERD by launching new products, including supplements and other support for a broader range of digestive symptoms. This year, we were proud to launch Picnic, our offering focused on allergic rhinitis.
The best part of our growth is that the Series C raise is really just the beginning of our mission to change healthcare for people with chronic conditions.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
With this new round of funding, we’re looking to do everything we need to expand access to our specialist-level care model to the millions of Americans suffering from chronic conditions. This includes enhancing the capabilities of the proprietary platform underpinning our care model and launching new brands. We’re also looking to reach more patients not only directly, but also through their employers and healthcare payor networks via innovative partnerships. To achieve all of the above, we plan to continue growing our team in the fields of technology, consumer product, health care, engineering, pharmacy, and supply chain.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We envision a future where the healthcare system puts the patient first. Accomplishing this is no small feat — it requires a complete reinvention of the experience. We’re building a company where every individual with a chronic condition can turn to us for high-impact specialty care that significantly improves the way they live their life every single day.
What’s your favorite outdoor dining restaurant in NYC?
A few of my favorite Brooklyn favorites are Olea outside for brunch or Claro in the back garden.
