Cityblock Health an urban healthcare company building scalable solutions to address the unmet health and social needs of Medicaid and Medicare populations today announced a $20 8 million Series A led by Maverick Ventures with significant investments by Thrive Capital and Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs These investments will be used to deploy Cityblock’s personalized health system — a novel community-delivered model of integrated primary care behavioral health and social services — and to advance development of its custom-built technology platform Commons
Leading healthcare and technology investors participated in the round including a new investment company being formed by past CMS Administrator and former Group Executive Vice President at Optum Andy Slavitt CEO of Golden Shore Medical Group and former CEO of Molina Healthcare Dr Mario Molina former CMS Deputy Administrator and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Dr Patrick Conway former CEO of Universal American Richard Barasch leading healthcare growth services firm Oxeon Partners co-founders of Flatiron Health Nat Turner and Zach Weinberg CEO of Clover Health Vivek Garipalli co-founder of Rock Health Halle Tecco co-founder of Cloudera Jeff Hammerbacher and Soraya Darabi of TrailMix Ventures Several strategic investors including leading health plans and integrated provider organizations also participated
This round brings Cityblock’s total funding to $23 2 million after incubation in Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs
Health insurance plans and risk-bearing providers are actively seeking clinical partners and technology solutions to accelerate their transformation to value-based care Modern approaches to care require comprehensive personalized care plans and tight coordination of an array of clinical and non-clinical staff both in clinics and in the field
Cityblock leverages Commons to power its novel approach to care delivery coupled with deep insights into individual needs investments in the social determinants of health and cutting-edge payment models to improve health outcomes while significantly reducing avoidable spending on the highest cost individuals in the healthcare system It provides a crucial solution to ensure that healthcare works for those who need it most Unlike traditional health systems the vast majority of Cityblock services are delivered in homes or other non-clinical settings some in-person and others digitally This level of unprecedented access provides communities with an entirely new experience of care that brings together the services and resources they need where and when they need them most in a high-touch convenient package
We started Cityblock with a simple goal to radically improve the health of urban communities one block at a time said Iyah Romm Cityblock’s CEO co-founder and board member Despite the boom in venture-backed and technology-based innovations people on Medicaid and other low-income urban populations have been largely left behind By combining a data-driven approach to both operations and clinical service delivery Cityblock has the opportunity to address those needs and unlock value in entirely new ways We believe that by investing in tools and care approaches that meet people where they are we can achieve this goal while also building a business that drives down the spiraling cost of healthcare
It is a rare opportunity to back a team that not only has real-world experience managing clinical services for high-need high-cost populations but also has shipped consumer technology at Google scale said Ambar Bhattacharyya Managing Director of Maverick Ventures Cityblock’s expertise and passion has led them to develop a novel model to reduce costs and create an exceptional consumer experience that lays the foundation for an enduring high growth business ”
Cityblock also announced that Andy Slavitt Vivek Garipalli and Ambar Bhattacharyya will be joining its board of directors Jared Weinstein from Thrive Capital will also be joining as board observer
The benefits of new technology must reach everyone who lives in cities no matter their income level or background Cityblock embodies this belief — combining innovation with high-quality integrated care to tackle healthcare disparities that cities around the world are struggling to address said Dan Doctoroff Chairman and CEO of Sidewalk Labs and Cityblock board director The incredible investor group and board of directors that this team has assembled demonstrates how hungry the world is for new solutions to these challenges ”
There are few greater national needs for the country right now than to unlock American innovation to provide better care for low-income low-access populations said Andy Slavitt Cityblock represents the best of a new breed of health care company — the best talent technology and resources aligned to provide better care to difficult to treat Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries as individuals with all their personalized social and health needs ”
With this investment Cityblock will deploy its first clinical partnerships and expand its team The company will also continue development of its Commons platform and launch new partnerships with health plans health systems and social services providers across the country
About Cityblock Health
Founded in , Cityblock is a new company with a simple goal to radically improve the health of urban communities one block at a time Cityblock is building a personalized health system that serves qualifying Medicaid or Medicare beneficiaries who live in city neighborhoods that have traditionally gone without sufficient health services The company partners with community-based organizations health plans and clinicians to reconfigure the delivery of fully integrated primary care behavioral health and social services by designing testing and deploying impactful care delivery models and digital products Modern technology is at the core of the model with custom-built tools that revolutionize every facet of care team operations and member interactions
Citbylock is led by CEO and co-founder Iyah Romm former Chief Transformation Officer at Commonwealth Care Alliance and senior healthcare policy and strategy leader for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts It employs a team of healthcare delivery technology analytics managed care policy and regulatory experts to implement locally tailored solutions to transformation health for underserved communities across the nation Cityblock is headquartered in Brooklyn For more visit www cityblock com or follow them on Twitter at @cityblockhealth
About Maverick Capital Ventures
Maverick Capital is a global investment firm that has been investing in early stage companies for over 20 years By working with Maverick Ventures entrepreneurs get the best of both worlds – a focused agile team of venture partners – and the resources reputation and relationships of a multi-billion dollar fund Maverick Ventures invests through an evergreen structure that allows it to support entrepreneurs for an indefinite time horizon Learn more about Maverick Ventures at http://www maverickventures com/
About Sidewalk Labs
Sidewalk Labs an Alphabet company was created to explore how new technologies can solve big urban challenges and improve quality of life in cities Its unique team combines the urbanists who led New York City’s post-9/11 revival with the technologists who made Google one of the world’s most innovative companies
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