Old Line Capital, Grit Capital Partners Co-lead $5.4 Million Seed Round for Porter

John Kessler

Old Line Capital, a Bowie, Md.-headquartered venture firm, has co-led a $4.5 million seed funding round for Porter, a Miami-based firm providing health and home services to convalescing patients. Other investors in the round included Baltimore- and New York-based Grit Capital Partners and the JLC Family Office in Arizona.

“OLC is confident that the marketplace will benefit from Porter’s more advanced technology and its more member-centric care model,” said John Kessler, Old Line’s general partner who oversaw the Porter deal.

Paul Palmieri, Grit Capital’s managing partner, hailed “Porter’s combination of care coordination with strong data analytics and coverage insights.” This “gives the company massive credibility with members…deep understanding of risk adjustment and the payor ecosystem,” he added.

“We are excited to partner with this experienced set of investors and board directors,” said Porter founder and CEO John Criswell, a Maryland native and alumnus of Johns Hopkins. “Gaining their wisdom and financial support in step with our growth is positioning us well to deliver on the model we’re building here at Porter.”

Criswell, a 25-year industry veteran with prior C-suite experience, founded Porter after a “lived” experience, when he was struck at home with an injury in 2020. “It has to be better,” he told HME News in an interview, as he started Porter in a bid to “augment and stitch the disparate system together through the transition to the home.”

Porter uses AI and advanced technologies to anticipate and coordinate the needs of varied patients, ranging from personalized services, clinicians, lab tests and medical products. It has also created a marketplace of service and care providers, enabling patients to buy “quality vetted services and products based on their current diagnosis.” Patients also can avail of in-home assessments, complete with lab and diagnostic testing.

“By coordinating the complexities of each unique care journey, Porter closes the gaps that have the largest impact on quality measures, total cost of care, and risk adjustment, while providing member-centered care,” the company says.

Old Line, founded in 2018, has 13 general partners and 22 limited partners. In mid-2022, it raised a $5.3 million fund, as it eyes seed, pre-seed and bridge rounds for diverse startups. Typically, it pumps in between $100,000 and $500,000 in portfolio companies.

In its early years, Old Line focused on cybersecurity, and scored two hits in Attila Security and Privva, both of which it exited via acquisitions. The firm has since switched tactics and aims to build a broader portfolio of investments. Besides Porter, Old Line’s portfolio includes veteran investing platform LocalVest and SharpRank, dubbed the Morningstar of sports betting.

“Our goal is not to write a check and walk away,” Jerry Schepers, a general partner at Old Line and former adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University, told Business Journal. “Our goal is to stay engaged, be a mentor and sounding board.”