Pager raises $70M to scale its turnkey care coordination platform

Pager, a New York-based digital care coordination and navigation platform, announced $70 million in newly raised equity and debt financing Tuesday.

The series C round was headed by Susquehanna Private Equity Investments while Silicon Valley Bank provided the debt financing.

The startup did not disclose the breakdown of equity to debt. It has raised approximately $133 million to date.

Pager said the new funds come in the wake of substantial growth—nearly an 800% in increase average annual consumer encounter over the past two years.

It will primarily be using the new money to scale its capacity, fuel platform development and expand into new markets within the U.S., Latin America and elsewhere, according to the announcement.

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"The COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for accelerated growth of virtual care solutions and has sparked a growing demand for health plans and health systems to offer proven, next-generation digital health platforms like Pager,” said Walter Jin, CEO and chairman of Pager, in a statement. “Our latest fundraising round further validates the meaningful value that virtual care provides and how we improve care access and health outcomes while lowering costs."

Pager offers payers, provider and employer customers a turnkey digital platform that can support any combination of automated triage, care team coordination, appointment scheduling, telemedicine support, prescribing and chat-based customer services.

For patients, the platform can serve as a guide spanning the entire course of their care encounter, from an initial app-based inquiry to a live conversation with a provider to automated follow-up reminders.

The company’s tools integrate with provider electronic health records, payer systems and other vendor services to permit data exchange across different entities. It can be deployed either as a standalone co-branded mobile app or as an unbranded service that lives within an organization’s existing digital services.

The company said its tools drive average savings of more than $190 per clinical encounter and utilization rates exceeding 30%. It said it currently partners with healthcare clients representing over 15 million people in the U.S. and Latin America.

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"During the past year, it has become clear that the healthcare industry must embrace virtual care, and Pager is at the forefront of providing streamlined services and helping health plan members gain easier access to the care they need, no matter what barriers they've faced in the past," Dean Carlson, head of digital asset investments at Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, said in a statement. "We are excited about the company's direction in terms of expansion and are proud to support Pager's efforts to reduce healthcare costs and improve navigation within the healthcare system."

The latest round featured a collection of new and existing investors, with Pager highlighting a Horizon Healthcare Services affiliate alongside Susquehanna as a notable participant. It had previously received support from Health Catalyst Capital, Goodwater Capital, Lux Capital and New Enterprise Associates.

Pager’s $33 million series B came in March 2020 and similarly included a combination of equity and debt.

Global venture capital and corporate investments into digital health and health technology companies have skyrocketed in 2020—and then accelerated even further in 2021. A first-half funding report from Mercom Capital Group reported a 138% increase in funding activity through June, largely fueled by support for telehealth companies and mobile health apps.