Patient engagement company Reema Health scored $8 million in seed funding for its platform designed to help the difficult-to-reach patients get care. 

This new infusion of cash brings the Minneapolis-based startup's total funding to $10 million. 

WHAT IT DOES

The company created a platform that helps support patients in accessing care and other resources that impact social determinants of health. Patients are able to contact Reema if they are feeling lonely in order to talk to someone. 

The service also helps patients with transportation barriers by providing rides to appointments and daily activities. On the medical side, patients can use the service to find a doctor and help pay for medications. 

Reema is also focused on supporting patients to access food and housing. 

WHAT IT'S FOR 

The company said that it plans to use the new funds to grow its operations and build reach. 

MARKET SNAPSHOT 

More and more digital health companies are looking to address patients' social determinants of health. Alphabet spin-out Cityblock Health, a primary care startup that targets the Medicaid and low-income populations, raised $400 million in September 2021. This brought the company's total valuation to $5.7 billion. 

Over the fall, care-coordination startup Unite Us announced the purchase of fellow digital social determinants of health-focused company NowPow for an undisclosed sum. This came less than a year after Unite Us scored $150 million in a Series C funding round. 

Big tech is also creating new tools to help shed light on health disparities. In 2021, Google supported the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine in creating a new data platform that highlights the disparate impacts of COVID-19 on marginalized communities.