Waymark closes $45M Series A to improve healthcare access and outcomes among Medicaid beneficiaries
Financing co-led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and NEA
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Waymark, the Medicaid provider-enablement company devoted to scaling value-based care in Medicaid, today announced the closing of a $45M Series A financing co-led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and New Enterprise Associates (NEA). Lux Capital and leading angel investors also participated in the round.
Today, the wealthiest Americans outlive the poorest Americans by 10-15 years. The one in four Americans who are on Medicaid are often overlooked by healthcare innovations, reinforcing disparities in health outcomes.
In partnership with payors and providers, who are eager for solutions to help move care into the community to improve access and quality, Waymark will catalyze the transformation of Medicaid care delivery by training and employing community-based care teams and enabling them with technology. Waymark's approach is based on scaling evidence-based interventions that improve outcomes.
"Additional creativity and capital must be directed to Medicaid to avoid further entrenching disparities that are already so visible," said Waymark CEO and co-founder Rajaie Batniji MD PhD. "Waymark will increase the capacity of our healthcare delivery system and align the payment incentives to enable whole-person care."
Co-founders Rajaie Batniji MD PhD and Sanjay Basu MD PhD are both physicians who care for Medicaid patients, and who recognized the need to enable primary care providers to have better outreach and coordination opportunities in communities. "Primary care providers are the backbone of any effective healthcare system, but are increasingly burned-out in the United States," explained Waymark co-founder and Head of Clinical, Sanjay Basu MD PhD. "Waymark seeks to help primary care providers who care for Medicaid patients by providing them with a community-based care team to help address needs that extend beyond the clinic -- without costs to the provider or patient."
"Waymark is a perfect fit for our core thesis that provider enablement -- empowering physicians already practicing in their communities with technology and resources -- is the most scalable path to fixing our healthcare system. Given unacceptable health disparities in the $600B+ Medicaid market, the need as well as opportunity to drive more efficient care here is massive. We are excited for Waymark to help implement value-based and evidence-based care pathways for Medicaid patients, said Vineeta Agarwala MD PhD, a16z General Partner and Waymark board member.
Also joining the Waymark Board is Mohamad Makhzoumi, Managing General Partner and Head of the Global Healthcare Investing Practice at NEA. Makhzoumi has a nearly decade-long history with Batniji, as Makhzoumi backed Collective Health (which Batniji co-founded) at the Series B and in all subsequent growth rounds. "We had been searching for a model we believed could transform Medicaid and transform it at scale." Makhzoumi said. "Waymark is that model, and has the right team to execute. By keeping relatively asset-light, Waymark will create a partnership-based approach with payors, providers and members to enable Medicaid transformation."
Waymark is entering the Medicaid managed care market during a period of urgent change and higher Medicaid enrollment than ever before. The company is excited to partner with innovative Medicaid Managed Care plans and their primary care providers to improve the quality of care delivery and to improve access and outcomes for Medicaid patients.
About Waymark
Waymark was founded in 2021 by seasoned healthcare entrepreneurs and operators. The company is a Public Benefit Corporation that seeks to improve healthcare access and outcomes among Medicaid beneficiaries. Waymark will empower existing Medicaid primary care providers with technology-enabled, community-based care teams to deliver a set of interventions that are highly effective, but rarely available to Medicaid patients.
Waymark designs technology and service delivery for communities and individuals that have been historically excluded, because of language, race, ethnicity, poverty, substance use, immigration status, gender or sexual identity, or other characteristics viewed as "other" or "lesser than". We promote access to healthcare when English is not spoken, technology is not used, and traditional care delivery is not trusted. We build and design with the communities we serve in each geography.
The leadership team includes Dr. Rajaie Batniji, co-founder of Collective Health; Dr. Sanjay Basu, a practicing primary care physician at a Medicaid-focused community health center and previous Director of Research at the Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care; Michael Ceballos, who was Head of New Markets & Implementation with Cityblock Health and held leadership roles at Centene (Ohio) and UnitedHealthcare (Community & State and Medicare & Retirement); Afia Asamoah who was Head of Legal at Google Health and held legal leadership roles at Verily and FDA; and Christina Fellows who was VP of Medicaid Finance at UnitedHealthcare.
For more information, visit www.waymarkcare.com
About Andreessen Horowitz
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that backs bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology. The firm is stage agnostic, investing in seed to late-stage technology companies, across the consumer, enterprise, bio/healthcare, crypto, and fintech spaces. a16z has over $19 billion in assets under management across multiple funds. See portfolio companies here: https://a16z.com/portfolio/.
About New Enterprise Associates
New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and
geographies. With nearly $24 billion in cumulative committed capital since the firm's founding in 1977, NEA invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company's lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm's long track record of successful investing includes more than 230 portfolio company IPOs and more than 390 mergers and acquisitions. www.nea.com.
SOURCE Waymark
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