New startup, new funding: The Providence health tech incubator has spun out Praia Health as an independent company, and the startup on Tuesday announced $20 million in new funding.
Praia has built a platform that powers the patient portals that allow people to track appointments, tests results, medications and communications with healthcare providers across institutions. The goal is to improve the patient experience, building a profile that provides the information the patient wants and needs, in part by tracking and responding to how they interact with the portal.
“It’s connecting the dots and serving up that personalized experience across a vast ecosystem,” said Sara Vaezy, Providence’s chief strategy and digital officer, in an interview.
Vaezy emphasized the speed at which the Praia system can be quickly updated to incorporate new targeted features for patients.
Health tech incubation: Providence is a Catholic, nonprofit healthcare system based in Renton, Wash., and operates in seven states. It runs its own startup incubator called Providence Digital Innovation Group. Praia got its start within that program, launching internally in early 2022.
In its first decade of operation, the innovation group has spun out three additional ventures.
Leadership: Praia’s CEO is Justin Dearborn, who previously led PatientBond, Tribune Publishing Company, and Merge Healthcare. The startup is spinning out of the incubator with 27 employees.
Backers: Frist Cressey Ventures, a healthcare-focused firm, led the Series A round, which was backed by SignalFire, Epsilon Health Investors and Providence Ventures.
Providence will continue using Praia’s technology, and Indiana’s Community Health Network is the first outside customer for the Praia Health Consumer Platform. The tech is currently serving more than 3.5 million users.
