Philadelphia-based Vitable Health, a Kenyan-founded startup that runs a primary healthcare program for uninsured and under-insured Americans, has closed a $16 million Series A funding round led by San Francisco-based Cherryrock Capital.
Other investors in the round included New Jersey’s Newark Venture Partners, New York-based Citi Impact Fund, First Round Capital, Commerce Ventures, and Y Combinator. The startup, whose previous backers include Softbank, has raised $24.8 million since it was founded in 2020.
Forbes Honor
Coming to the United States when 13 years old, Kitonga watched his parents run a home healthcare small business, according to Forbes, which featured him in its 30 Under 30 list in 2022.
“Vitable Health was born out of a deeply personal experience. Growing up, I witnessed firsthand the struggles of hourly workers, who often had to choose between basic necessities and healthcare,” said Joseph Kitonga, a Penn State dropout and Thiel Fellow. The Thiel fellowship — a program funded by early Facebook investor Peter Thiel — gives young entrepreneurs a $100,000 grant to pursue their ventures.
Vitable Health also won Penn State’s Inc.U undergraduate pitch competition in 2022, along with a cash award of $10,000. Kitonga termed the cash award “monumental,” saying it helped Vitable’s launch and sustained it for a year. It’s hard to “overstate” the cash award’s importance, he told Invent PennState magazine in an interview.
Y Combinator Push
Kitonga won acceptance to Y Combinator’s startup accelerator program on his third attempt, helping him hone his venture. “Soon after going into Y Combinator, at the end of the three months, we were able to raise $1.5 million from investors,” Kitonga told Invent PennState. It’s been quite a memorable and eventful few months.”
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In a blog post to announce the Series A funding, Kitonga said his company’s mission was clear: Increase the average life expectancy of our members by over five years by providing accessible and comprehensive primary care. The funds will be used to enhance “our primary care and care navigation capabilities. We are committed to delivering truly affordable preventive and primary care, along with free prescriptions and mental health coverage,” he said.
Expansion Mode
Vitable says it chose to build anew because existing health insurance programs — and related infrastructure — are “broken.” With individual premiums of about $500, health insurance remains unaffordable for many, as are family programs. So, “we’ve redesigned the healthcare experience to put our members at the center,” the company says on its website, promising no co-payments or deductibles. Vitable says members will never have to wait and that providers, labs, and imaging will come directly to them, “either virtually or through our concierge in-home visits.”
Today, Vitable provides in-person care in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Illinois, and virtual care in Texas, Florida and Ohio. With the latest funding, the company expects to offer services in over 40 states, saying the “expansion is crucial as we strive to support more self-insured employers and small businesses.”
