Top Deal: The Future Of Primary Care Reinvented

Key Stats:

Summary

At time of publication, October 29th, Circle Medical had raised $297.7K

The Circle Medical team has been selected as a “Top Deal” by KingsCrowd. This distinction is reserved for deals selected into the top 10% of our deal diligence funnel. If you have questions regarding our deal diligence and selection methodology please reach out to hello@kingscrowd.com

Problem

America is the only developed country in the world without universal healthcare. In addition to the lack of access to what many believe is a necessity, many Americans also note the neglect they feel with their healthcare experiences.

It isn’t uncommon to meet someone who hates going to the doctor’s office. This negative experience has been pent up in individuals since they were young and is attributed to long wait times, inconvenient hours, endless paperwork, far-away locations, and more.

Adding to this list of issues is the disconnect between the doctor and the patient. An outdated system and a lack of trust have kept individuals from receiving the help and care they deserve. The United States spends more on healthcare per capita than any of the other major developed countries, yet of those developed countries we have the shortest lifespans.

Solution

Circle Medical is attempting to reinvent healthcare by providing individuals with primary care doctors through brick-and-mortar clinics and employer pop-ups.

Using artificial intelligence, Circle Medical hopes to build a new kind of primary care practice to remodel the patient experience. The company’s technology is assisting and automating physician decisions reducing the cost of care and delivering better outcomes for patients.

Similar to how Netflix can recommend you shows to watch and how Spotify can identify your music taste, Circle Medical’s technology is using data to diagnose conditions, write prescriptions, and order and interpret tests.

Like everything else that has been digitized, healthcare is next. Circle Medical is introducing services on its iOS and Android app. Its mobile-first interface will be used to chat with physicians, receive appointment summaries, and scan insurance information.

As the company achieves economies of scale, the app will gradually become more and more informative and valuable to its users.

Not only is the company pioneering new ways to see your doctor via mobile app and scheduled pop-ups, but they are also building strategically placed convenient brick-and-mortar locations to move people off the critical path of hospitals and clinics. Doing this keeps overhead low while achieving scale more quickly.

Being the provider and software developer, innovating without permission and at startup speed is what makes Circle Medical a company capable of providing a solution to one of America’s biggest problem.

Competition

The KingsCrowd team understands the heavy competition in the space that Circle Medical is playing in, but we believe this investment opportunity is worthwhile due to the number of differentiating factors that makes Circle Medical unique.

Circle Medical bases their revenue off of the number of appointments they book. In partnership with all major insurance companies in Northern California, the company bills them a fee for service every time they have an appointment.

These appointments mainly come from the partnering with employers that encourage their employees to schedule pop-up doctors visits. We believe Circle Medical’s biggest competitors are Pager, Heal, and Health Tap.

Pager is a company operating out of New York offering services similar to Circle Medical such as appointment scheduling services, messaging with doctors, and prescription refills all through their app.

Of the companies mentioned, Pager is the company most similar to Circle Medical. What makes Circle Medical different from Pager is its revenue model. Pager charges customers out of pocket per appointment thus relinquishing the end-to-end aspect of a model like Circle Medical’s.

Heal is a company in Los Angeles offering users the ability to schedule house appointments, also utilizing a mobile app platform.

Similar to Circle Medical, Health Tap is also located in the San Francisco area. The company provides users with answers to their various healthcare questions powered by professional expertise and artificial intelligence.

Competitive Advantage  

Unlike the companies previously mentioned, Circle Medical is attempting its shot at a full-stack healthcare model. Most healthcare startups fail to bring their product to market or they fail to scale and end up dying trying to sell great software to slow-moving hospital systems.

 By providing an end-to-end solution, Circle Medical is maneuvering around the dysfunctional healthcare system, which should increase its odds of success.

Circle Medical’s model encompasses a comprehensive suite of healthcare tools rather than the bits and pieces offered by its competitors.

Traction

The team is planning on having one brick-and-mortar clinic as a base of operations while scaling with employer pop-up clinics. Circle Medical is currently operating in San Francisco and running a successful, oversubscribed pilot in Austin, TX.

As you can see the company is growing rapidly driven by its 100 corporate customers that have driven quick scale in their Northern California network. Some of their notable customers include General Electric, and Target.

In addition to their clients, the company has also been able to raise over $6 million in funding from investors like Y Combinator and Tencent, both leading Silicon Valley VCs who carry prestigious brands of only backing the most innovative startups.

With more funding in their equity crowdfunding round, they will look to expand to new markets with a service that has proven capable of attracting a large customer base.

Market Opportunity

Circle Medical is playing in a $300 billion primary care market. As Americans demand a better healthcare system, the team at Circle Medical is working hard to revolutionize and introduce new services catering to the needs of a new generation requesting digital and mobile solutions.

Segments of care now include prevention and lifestyle, chronic conditions, urgent care, women’s health, travel and adult vaccination, and laboratory. Circle Medical is servicing all of these segments.

Founding Team

The two founders of the company are JS Boulanger and George Favvas. Boulanger is Circle Medical’s CTO. He holds a Masters in Computer Science from McGill University and has extensive experience in software development. Not only does Boulanger have the technical skills required to create an app of Circle Medical’s kind, but he has also co-founded and exited two other startups before creating Circle Medical.

Similar to Boulanger, Favvas is also a self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur. Having previously founded four companies, Favvas brings to the table over 20 years of operating experience and is an expert in product management.

These two have diversified experiences that complement each other’s. We think the team is very promising and has hit on some key themes. Digital is the natural next step for an industry like healthcare and Circle Medical is well positioned for this with Boulanger and Favvas leading the way.

Rating

The Recommendation: Top Deal

All in all, Circle Medical is positioning itself to be differentiated from the companies that came before it and they are meeting an acute need within the currently outdated healthcare system.

After graduating from Y Combinator in 2015, the team has been able to triple growth this year with expectations to triple again next year. Operating at 7x the margin of traditional primary care physicians, the company’s business model and product market fit are proving out to work.

This one feels like a true Silicon Valley startup that is taking on a massive problem with a very forward-thinking solution. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t come with risks to the downside because people often fail when trying to conquer the world.

Regardless, the upside on this opportunity with the investors they have on board all point to this being a promising investment.

With fast growth in a massive market, a strong founding team and a unique approach to healthcare that is actually working, we think this is a team worth backing now while you can.