Koda Health Secures New Funding to Expand Advance Care Planning Capabilities

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Jun 12, 2024, 13:00 ET

Led by Ecliptic Capital with strategic investment from Memorial Hermann Health System, AARP and the Texas Medical Center Venture Fund

HOUSTON, June 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Koda Health, an innovator in digital Advance Care Planning, today announced the successful oversubscription of its Seed+ funding round. This round was led by Ecliptic Capital, with strategic investment from Memorial Hermann Health System, AARP and the Texas Medical Center (TMC) Venture Fund, underscoring the health care community's belief in Koda's mission, technology and impact on patient care.

A Vision for the Future of Health Care

"If we're looking at speed of market adoption, it's clear that Koda Health is at the forefront of a crucial transformation in Advance Care Planning," said Tatiana Fofanova, PhD, CEO of Koda Health. "In just a few years, we've built out a product that now serves well over 700,000 patients nationwide for industry giants like Cigna, Privia and Houston Methodist.

"While we're well-equipped to meet these clients' needs, we're also signing new partnerships with major health care providers at an exciting rate," she says. "This round of funding will help us maintain the quality that our clients expect at new and unprecedented scales."

"We at Ecliptic are proud to continue our support of Koda Health's work to provide patient education and access to Advance Care Planning, to help ensure that patients' end-of-life wishes are honored," said Adam Lipman, CIO of Ecliptic Capital. "The team at Koda is truly dedicated to this important mission, and we are proud to back them."

"AARP research shows that there is a willingness among older adults in the U.S. to prepare for the end of their lives," says Amelia Hay, VP of Startup Programming and Investments at AgeTech Collaborative™ from AARP. "This indicates a need for more programs and services geared towards ensuring adults take the necessary steps, and AARP is pleased to invest in Koda Health to help address that need."

Expanding Partnerships and Innovation

Given Koda's immense clinical and operations growth, it was important for the company to fill its latest funding round with strategic investors, said Dr. Desh Mohan, Chief Medical Officer of Koda Health. "That's where our allies at Memorial Hermann, The Texas Medical Center, and the AgeTech Collaborative from AARP come in. Each brings unique strategic value to our growth strategy."

Memorial Hermann, recognizing the potential for Koda Health's solutions to enhance patient care and support health care providers, has not only contributed to the funding round but is also partnering with Koda on a pilot project.

"We are always looking for new ways to further engage our patients and make them feel better supported. The unique challenges of COVID-19 have only heightened the need for innovation in this area," said Feby Abraham, PhD, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for Memorial Hermann. "We believe investing in Koda Health will give patients the tools to make sure their wishes are carried forth and the burden is removed from their families to make those decisions."

Fofanova founded Koda Health, a B2B Enterprise SaaS solution that streamlines the process of proactive health care planning and document completion, in early 2020 with her co-founders Dr. Desh Mohan, who serves as chief medical officer, and Katelin Cherry, the company's CTO. The founding team connected through the Texas Medical Center's (TMCi) Biodesign program, which tasked the team with finding solutions to issues affecting the world's largest medical center.

"Koda is uniquely positioned to serve payers, providers and patients," said William McKeon, President & CEO, Texas Medical Center. "We rarely see a company that provides value to all three stakeholders. Seeing Koda launch from our TMCi BioDesign program to the progress they've made with our member institutions and players in the value chain is incredible."

With the successful close of this Seed+ funding round, Koda Health is poised to accelerate its mission of revolutionizing Advance Care Planning. Leveraging the strategic partnerships and support from leading health care investors, the company is well-equipped to expand its innovative solutions and impact on patient care. As Koda Health continues to grow, its dedication to ensuring patients' wishes are honored remains steadfast, further cementing its position as a leader in the health care industry and setting new standards in patient care and education.

For more information, please contact Koda Health's Director of Growth Marketing - Fady Shanow, MPH at [email protected].

About Koda Health

Koda Health is a tech-enabled care coordination service to improve serious illness care planning. Its Advance Care Planning (ACP) solution pairs a cloud-based ACP platform with an in-house 1:1 longitudinal ACP support and navigation. This allows healthcare organizations to provide scalable, personalized ACP without an increased organizational lift. To learn more about Koda, visit kodahealthcare.com.

About Ecliptic Capital

Ecliptic Capital is an emergent, early-stage innovation fund focused on pre-seed, seed, and series A investments. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Ecliptic's thesis makes the case for capturing, developing, and scaling a range of emergent technologies from talented entrepreneurs from often neglected geographies and industries. Founded by serial entrepreneurs, investors, and operators, Ecliptic focuses on operational excellence, building rich relationships, and transparency to create value, trust, and insights over time. Knowing that visionary ideas need intentional nurturing, Ecliptic's unique approach provides open-ended investment time frames to maximize value.

About AgeTech Collective™ from AARP^®

AgeTech Collective™ from AARP^® is an unparalleled innovation ecosystem bringing together cutting-edge thinkers in the longevity tech space to champion meaningful advances so that everyone can choose how they live as they age. AARP's decades of exclusive longevity insights, the breakthrough collaborative ecosystem and community of innovators positions the AgeTech Collaborative to lead the future of AgeTech.

About Memorial Hermann
Charting a better future. A future that's built upon the HEALTH of our community. This is the driving force for Memorial Hermann, redefining health care for the individuals and many diverse populations we serve. Our more than 6,500 active medical staff and 33,000 employees practice the highest standards of safe, evidence-based, quality care to provide a personalized and outcome-oriented experience across more than 250 care delivery sites. As one of the largest not-for-profit health systems in Southeast Texas, Memorial Hermann has an award-winning and nationally acclaimed Accountable Care Organization, 17* hospitals and numerous specialty programs and services conveniently located throughout the Greater Houston area. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center is one of the nation's busiest Level I trauma centers and serves as the primary teaching hospital for McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. For more than 116 years, our focus has been the best interest of our community, contributing nearly $500 million annually through school-based health centers and other community benefit programs. Now and for generations to come, the health of our community will be at the center of what we do – charting a better future for all.

*Memorial Hermann Health System owns and operates 14 hospitals and has joint ventures with three other hospital facilities, including Memorial Hermann Surgical Hospital First Colony, Memorial Hermann Surgical Hospital Kingwood and Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy.

About Texas Medical Center (TMC)
TMC is the world's most comprehensive life science ecosystem at the forefront of advancing life sciences. TMC is on a mission to further accelerate the pace of healing by harnessing our collective expertise in innovation, research, development, production, and patient care within a single, centralized medical ecosystem. With over 70+ million square feet and 120,000+ employees, TMC is leveraging the collective power by pioneering a revolutionary life sciences initiative to house the entire treatment of life cycle from discovery to delivery, within a single, world-class medical complex, on a scale never before seen.

SOURCE Koda Health