Healthcare
See the pitch deck a Wharton grad used to raise $30 million to tackle one of healthcare’s most expensive problems
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- Digestive health issues are common and costly to treat.
- Oshi Health said it wants to change how patients get care for conditions like IBS.
- The startup said this month that it raised $30 million from investors to scale its platform.
At least 60 to 70 million people in the US are affected each year by digestive and other gastrointestinal issues such as irritable bowel syndrome.
The conditions contribute to more than $100 billion in healthcare costs each year. IBS has become so prevalent that the concept that “hot girls have IBS” has gone viral on TikTok.
But getting treatment for digestive issues can be complicated and expensive. That’s what Oshi Health, a startup that offers care for digestive issues, wants to change.
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Founded in 2019, New York-based Oshi connects patients to providers like gastroenterologists and dietitians who can help treat digestive issues like IBS, celiac disease, and other conditions.
Oshi cofounder and CEO Sam Holliday said the company provides virtual care through its app but also partners and coordinates with local providers and pharmacies who help provide care for digestive conditions that can’t be delivered online.
Oshi partners with health insurers and employers who can offer its services as a benefit to their customers and employees.
The company’s name, “Oshi,” means “push” in Japanese — a nod toward the startup’s emphasis on digestive health — but the word has multiple other connotations, Holliday told Insider. It sounds similar to Oishii, Japanese for delicious, nodding to the company’s dietitian offerings. Add a “t” to the end of the name and you’ve got yet another relevant meaning, he said.
Earlier this month, Oshi announced that it raised a $30 million Series B round led by Koch Disruptive Technologies. Other investors, including Flare Capital Partners, CVS Health Ventures, and Takeda Digital Ventures, also participated in the round.
Holliday said that the company started growing its platform near the end of 2022 and has onboarded more than 1,200 patients so far at the pace of around 200 to 300 users monthly. By the end of 2023, he hopes to have 5,000 patients using the platform, he said.
Oshi Health removed financial details from the pitch deck it used to raise $30 million in Series B before sharing the presentation with Insider.
See the presentation Oshi Health used to raise $30 million:
Oshi Health was founded in 2019 with the goal of simplifying care for digestive health issues.
The company said that gastrointestinal issues are prevalent and is costly for both employers and the healthcare system.
Oshi said that many treatments for digestive health and gastrointestinal conditions focus on testing and medications, which often don’t identify the root causes of these issues.
“We know that dietary behavioral interventions work. They just haven’t been scaled and they haven’t been funded,” Oshi CEO Sam Holliday told Insider.
The company said that patients looking for GI care today often wait for long periods of time and report being unsatisfied with their care.
Oshi said it’s looking to change that by offering a virtual platform that offers a host of GI-focused providers, such as gastroenterologists and dietitians, to patients looking for treatments.
The company offers its services on an app but patients can also access the platform through their desktops.
Oshi said that its employed practitioners can diagnose and treat any GI condition— from celiac disease to liver cancer.
The company offers telehealth appointments, medication, and other services on its app and works with local providers who can provide procedures, infusions, and other in-person treatments.
Recently, the company announced a clinical study of 350 participants that tested how its virtual care affected patients with GI issues.
Oshi said that its platform helped 91% of participants control their symptoms in just a few months.
The company said that participants in the study had fewer missed work days and lower healthcare costs compared to an artificial control group.
Oshi said that digestive disorders are costly for the healthcare system. It said its platform can help patients avoid costly procedures, imaging, and trips to the emergency department.
One year of using Oshi’s platform costs less than a single endoscopy or emergency room visit, the company said.
Oshi operates in 20 states through its partnerships with insurers such as UnitedHealthcare and Aetna.
Holliday said the company is expanding throughout the US as it signs on more customers. He said he hopes Oshi will be available in nearly all 50 states over the next year to 18 months.