MINNEAPOLIS and RADNOR,
Pa. and CLAYTON, Mo., Jan. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Zipnosis has
raised a $17 million Series A
financing round led by Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE: SFE) with
participation from Ascension Ventures, a subsidiary of Ascension,
the nation's largest non-profit and Catholic health system; along
with existing investors Fairview Health Services, Hyde Park Venture
Partners, Arthur Ventures, Waterline Ventures and Omphalos
Ventures. Proceeds will be used to expand Zipnosis' sales and
marketing efforts and to accelerate product development.
Zipnosis is the first virtual care solution that empowers health
systems to launch their own branded virtual care service line
staffed with their own clinicians — maximizing the clinician's time
and ensuring clinically appropriate patient outcomes. Zipnosis
guides health systems through clinical, marketing, compliance and
operations workflows, and guarantees launch of their virtual care
programs in just 60 days. Zipnosis' white-labeled software
integrates with a health system's electronic medical record and
patient portal, and allows health systems to serve both existing
and new patients.
Zipnosis' asynchronous platform mimics an in-person interaction
between clinician and patient, gathering the necessary information
for diagnosis and providing clinicians with appropriate treatment
options. For patients, the user experience is seamless. The patient
simply logs into the health system's branded virtual care site and
completes a short, dynamic online interview that gathers
information about the patient's condition. Then, behind the scenes,
Zipnosis' algorithm of triage tools sends the interview to the
appropriate clinician within the health system for diagnosis and
treatment. The clinician is presented with structured information
that facilitates a diagnosis and treatment decision in about two
minutes, delivering the most efficient virtual care encounter on
the market. The clinician can triage the patient with a phone or
video visit for more information, if necessary. When appropriate,
the clinician can e-prescribe medication to be sent to the
patient's pharmacy of choice. The patient is guaranteed a response
in under an hour.
Currently, Zipnosis offers virtual care for more than 90
conditions and is expanding into chronic care conditions. In
addition, Zipnosis currently works with approximately 17 health
system customers including Fairview Health Services, University of Alabama-Birmingham, Group Health, and
John Muir Health.
"Our platform is designed to enable health systems to expand
access to immediate care using their own clinicians," said Jon
Pearce, co-founder and CEO of Zipnosis. "With Zipnosis, health
systems have a unique opportunity to care for more patients under
their own brand name and without adding staff. Patients are
happier to be 'seen' sooner without having to step foot outside
their home or go to a waiting room. We are grateful to Safeguard
Scientifics, Ascension Ventures and our existing seed investors for
their confidence in our team and technology, and for their support
that will enable us to expand the innovative access we provide to
mainstream medicine through our partnerships with health systems
around the U.S."
"Zipnosis offers health systems an incredible opportunity to
retain existing patients and acquire new ones," said Al Wiegman, Managing Director, Healthcare at
Safeguard, who will join Zipnosis' Board of Directors. "Virtual
visits are an increasingly popular way for clinicians to diagnose
and treat patients without requiring an in-person visit, and have
the potential to produce better patient outcomes through more
rigorous clinical protocols. We're excited to partner with the
Zipnosis team and support its disruptive platform as it works to
expand affordable access to care."
"Zipnosis has illustrated it is a true partner to healthcare
systems by creating a virtual care platform that fits the needs of
the patient as well as the provider," said Helen Ciesielski, Investment Associate,
Ascension Ventures. "Its vision of the future of telemedicine,
which includes the development of innovative products like
ZipTicket® — the equivalent of an electronic boarding
pass that give patients front-of-the-line access at their clinic —
as well as its ability to integrate into a health system's current
processes and IT systems to ensure continuity of care, goes beyond
any other product in the marketplace."
About Zipnosis
Zipnosis provides health systems with a
white-labeled, fully integrated virtual care platform. Using our
powerful, tech-enabled treatment and triage tools, our clients can
offer ultra-convenient access to care while dramatically improving
clinician efficiency. Patients may be treated for more than 90
conditions using our pioneering adaptive interview, triaged
directly into a phone or video encounter, or directed to visit a
clinic for faster service using our ZipTicket®boarding pass. Based
in Minnesota, Zipnosis has more
than 7 years of experience and data to help our partners rapidly
launch and scale a market-leading virtual care solution. For more
information, visit www.zipnosis.com.
About Safeguard Scientifics
Safeguard Scientifics,
Inc. (NYSE: SFE) has a distinguished track record of fostering
innovation and building market leaders. For six decades, Safeguard
has been providing growth capital and operational support to
entrepreneurs across an evolving spectrum of industries. Today,
Safeguard is focused specifically on two sectors—healthcare and
technology. Specifically, Safeguard targets early- and growth-stage
companies in advertising technology, digital media, financial
technology, enterprise software, Internet of Things, devices,
diagnostics, digital health and healthcare IT. For more
information, please visit www.safeguard.com or follow us
on Twitter @safeguard.
About Ascension Ventures
Ascension Ventures, launched
in 2001, is a subsidiary of Ascension, the nation's largest
Catholic and non-profit health system. Ascension Ventures' role is
to construct and manage a strategic portfolio of investments that
deliver venture-level investment returns, have the potential to
transform the healthcare industry and significantly enhance the
experience for patients, their families and their caregivers.
Ascension Ventures has three venture funds with $550 million in committed capital under
management. Its limited partners include Ascension, Catholic Health
Initiatives, Decatur Memorial Hospital, Dignity Health,
Intermountain Healthcare, Mercy and Trinity Health.
www.ascensionventures.org
Forward-looking Statements
Except for the
historical information and discussions contained herein, statements
contained in this release may constitute "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Our forward-looking statements are subject to
risks and uncertainties. The risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially include, among others,
our ability to make good decisions about the deployment of capital,
the fact that our partner companies may vary from period to period,
our substantial capital requirements and absence of liquidity from
our partner company holdings, fluctuations in the market prices of
our publicly traded partner company holdings, competition, our
inability to obtain maximum value for our partner company holdings,
our ability to attract and retain qualified employees, market
valuations in sectors in which our partner companies operate, our
inability to control our partner companies, our need to manage our
assets to avoid registration under the Investment Company Act of
1940, and risks associated with our partner companies, including
the fact that most of our partner companies have a limited history
and a history of operating losses, face intense competition and may
never be profitable, the effect of economic conditions in the
business sectors in which Safeguard's partner companies operate,
and other uncertainties described in our filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Many of these factors are
beyond the Company's ability to predict or control. As a result of
these and other factors, the Company's past financial performance
should not be relied on as an indication of future performance. The
Company does not assume any obligation to update any
forward-looking statements or other information contained in this
press release.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
For Zipnosis
Laura Telander Graf
ltgcommunications@comcast.net
(651) 698-4006
For Safeguard Scientifics
Heather Hunter
hhunter@safeguard.com
(610) 975-4923
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SOURCE Safeguard Scientifics, Inc.