Nearly 15% of the U.S. adult population has chronic kidney disease (CKD), a staggering number that is only growing. Today, unmanaged kidney disease accounts for $410 billion of spend, making it one of the largest expenditures for the healthcare system. Unfortunately, how kidney disease is addressed has not changed in decades, and the consumer experience remains inconsistent for patients. NEA’s portfolio company, Strive Health, is changing this paradigm by delivering compassionate kidney care the way it should be done.

This week marks an important milestone in Strive’s journey. We are excited to announce that two years after launch, Strive has completed a $140 million growth financing led by CapitalG, Alphabet’s independent growth fund, and NEA, with participation from existing investors Town Hall Ventures, Echo, Ascension, and new investor Redpoint Ventures.

Strive Health was born in 2018 out of the mission to transform kidney care. Not only is Strive Health NEA’s fourth investment in the kidney care space, it also continues NEA’s company creation strategy – partnering with experienced, passionate founding teams to launch innovative healthcare businesses like Radiology Partners (the largest physician-owned and physician-led radiology practice in the U.S. today). Strive’s compelling vision and mission convinced Chris Riopelle (who previously led NorthStar Anesthesia as CEO and has extensive experience scaling healthcare businesses) and Bob Badal (formerly responsible for health plan and provider network contracting for DaVita’s Kidney Care and Medical Group divisions) to co-found the Company with us. Today, the #Striver family is nearly 200 people strong, and we are grateful for our Kidney Heroes (nurse practitioners), case managers, social workers, dieticians, pharmacists, care coordinators, technologists, and all the other #Strivers reimagining kidney care.

Strive is different because the team is rebuilding the kidney care experience from the ground up. Strive offers a new paradigm for kidney care, providing specialized technological and clinical services integrated with local provider partners to transform kidney care and dramatically improve outcomes.

• Strive's artificial intelligence (AI)-powered data science models predict disease progression with greater than 95% accuracy.
• A comprehensive care team builds relationships with patients to inform them of all treatment options, including transplant. The patient is smoothly transitioned into treatment, with preference for in-home dialysis. Ongoing, high-touch patient engagement is maintained to reduce hospitalizations.
• Throughout the care process, Strive’s purpose-built technology supports continual feedback between the health system, provider, and payor.

Strive’s value proposition, robust technology platform, and integrated clinical model has led to tremendous progress. In the past year and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Strive launched with Humana, SSM Health, Conviva, and Independence Blue Cross and will soon launch with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. Strive’s high-touch, tech-enabled clinical model has dramatically improved care quality and shown up to 29% reduction in total healthcare spend. In just four months after launching with SSM Health, Strive helped the health system reduce ED utilization by more than 25% for both the CKD and ESRD populations. Most importantly, Strive’s model makes a huge difference for patients. One case study is of a 36-year-old patient who had 16 hospital stays in the last two years with frequent readmissions and declining health. Since Strive was implemented at SSM Health, the patient has had only one ED visit and zero readmissions.

The growth financing provides the capital to accelerate Strive’s growth in new and existing markets, grow its tech-enabled platform, and partner with additional payors, health systems, at-risk provider groups, and nephrologists across the country. This investment round, combined with prior funding, brings Strive’s total capital raised to nearly $225 million, more than any other start-up in the category.

Having CapitalG on board will advance Strive’s technology platform build, bringing deep expertise from one of the largest tech companies in the world. We are thrilled to support the incredible management team at Strive Health to transform outcomes for kidney disease patients, improving patient experience, and delivering value to Strive’s payer and provider partners who have been historically overlooked in this space.

If you are interested in joining the team, check out open positions here.