Ro, an online health startup, which started out by selling hair loss supplements and erectile dysfunction medication to men, raised $200 million in the latest funding round, at a valuation of $1.5 billion, according to CNBC.
The company has raised $376 million since its founding in 2017 and generating $250 million in revenue every year and has served five million doctor-patient interactions.
Ro competes against startups like Hims, which is about a deal to go public at around a $1 billion valuation.
The funding round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from existing investors FirstMark Capital, Torch, SignalFire, TQ Ventures, Initialized Capital, 3L, and BoxGroup, as well as first-time investor The Chernin Group.
With new funds, the Ro plans to expand into virtual care visits, in-home testing and caring for patients with chronic conditions. The company also plans to double the size of its engineering team.
“We want to be patients’ first call,” said Zachariah Reitano, CEO of Ro. “The more we are involved, the more we can impact the outcome.”
Reitano says “It is not just about biting off a slice of the $3.5 trillion healthcare market; instead, the company is looking to aggregate patients to the point where you can use the shared cumulative leverage to push back on the system.”
Ro currently operates three online health clinics – Rory for women, Roman for men, and Zero for addiction treatment – and a pharmacy network for prescription and home delivery.
Telehealth companies led the funding activity during 1H 2020, raising almost $1.9 billion in VC funding.
Recently, CityBlock Health, a startup that offers primary care, behavioral health, and virtual care services for lower-income communities in the U.S., raised $53.5 million in a Series B+ funding round, which was led by Kinnevik AB, with participation from AIMS Imprint of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Alphabet.
Image Credit: Ro
