Healthcare price transparency startup earns $40M in seed funding, bringing the total to $95M
A startup behind a search engine platform that allows health plans to compare provider and healthcare service costs has received $40 million in Series C funding. With this latest influx of funds, Turquoise Health brings its total funding to $95 million.
In an announcement, the company said the new investment stream was led by Oak HC/FT, with previous investors Andreessen Horowitz, Adams Street Partners and Yosemite also participating.
Launched in December 2020, San Diego-based Turquoise began by taking pricing data reported by payers and hospitals and analyzing it to support the development of health plan networks. Since then, it’s become a full-service platform where stakeholders—including employers and beneficiaries—can look up pricing data from all over the country, compare provider satisfaction scores and arm themselves with the information they need to get the best rate while navigating the U.S. healthcare system.
Turquoise Health has become a central location for all data related to the cost of healthcare delivery, and it’s a resource that hospitals, providers and payers alike will use during contract negotiations.
In its statement, the startup pointed to core structural problems where disparate data systems make it too challenging for anyone to understand the true cost of healthcare delivery. The company said the “current system results in both sides losing money due to denials and administrative overhead,” especially during complex reimbursement scenarios that require multiple visits to multiple different providers or facilities.
This complexity, it argues, also leads to surprise billing and reduced patient satisfaction. Turquoise believes transparency is the solution everyone is looking for—but transparency is only made possible when one has all of the information.
“Our goal has always been to move the industry toward clear, accurate and actionable healthcare pricing,” Chris Severn, CEO and Co-Founder of Turquoise, said in a statement. “By evolving from a data vendor to a full workflow and transaction platform, we are building the infrastructure for transparent, real-time payments.
“This round allows us to ensure that this model becomes the industry standard,” he added.
Three key areas of focus
In a blog, Turquoise outlined a roadmap for the future, highlighting three key areas where investment funds will help it make strides. These include building transaction infrastructure to connect pricing, contract rates and patient payments to better understand the relationship.
The group also said it will expand its use of artificial intelligence to automate insights, and that it will conduct audits to ensure all its cost and pricing data is accurate for every service.
“We're getting closer to a trustworthy, single, auditable rate. A rate that can be used upstream, before a claim is submitted, and not just interrogated after the fact. Why bother?” the company wrote. “When you package a rate upfront and make it transparent, same-day transactions become realistic and surprise bills become preventable. That’s the product milestone we’re building toward.”
Turquoise boasts an impressive roster of customers, including four of the five national healthcare payers and 10 of the top 25 largest health systems in the U.S. In total, it has more than 280 customers, representing hospitals, medical plans, employers and drug developers.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.