Oshi Health lands $60M Series C round for virtual gut-brain treatment

This fast-growing telehealth clinic takes your butterflies seriously

Can virtual clinics solve gut problems? 92% of patients using Oshi Health say yes, according to the results of a virtual integrated care study that involved 234 participants. This lucky majority, suffering from IBS/DGBI, logged some sort of symptom improvement during a nine-month telehealth program based on multidisciplinary treatment from gastrointestinal (GI) specialists, dieticians, GI-specialized psychologists, and health coaches.

Since this trial was completed and presented at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in early 2023, Oshi has partnered with Aetna and most major insurance providers, raised its $30 million Series B round, expanded to cover 50 states, and grew its in-person GI practitioners network. Today, the company, based in NYC, celebrates another funding milestone: it has raised $60 million in its Series C round.

Leading the round was new investor Oak HC/FT, a healthcare, fintech, and AI-focused private equity firm with headquarters in Stamford, CT, and a San Francisco, CA, office. Existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners (San Francisco), Flare Capital Partners (Boston), Frist Cressey Ventures (Nashville), CVS Health Ventures, and Takeda Digital Ventures, also participated in this round.

With the new funds, Oshi said it prepares to build momentum further, gain new provider partnerships, grow payer coverage, service new employer partners, and expand into Medicare populations in 2025. The company named Dayforce, Koch Inc., Mariner, Nielsen Company, and TE Connectivity as its employer partners.

While Oshi’s aforementioned trial program was carried out in addition to coordinated in-person care partners, it logged some substantial medical cost savings. According to the study, this figure averaged $10,292 per patient in six months, attributed to decreases in avoidable testing, procedures, ER visits, and use of medication. This again pointed to the high economic burden of digestive disorders in the United States.

“Digestive health issues are a growing cost in our health plan and there is a shortage of high-quality, convenient digestive care in the marketplace,” said Matthew Hall, Benefits Strategy Manager at Koch, which uses Oshi to provide virtual digestive care to its employees. “Oshi’s unique virtual model supports our employees and their families with the time and expertise needed to deliver truly transformative digestive care on their own terms.” 

Focusing on gut problems, Oshi provides each patient with access to an integrated care team that will build a personalized care plan. Notably, this includes stress reduction tools as Oshi highlights the gut-brain connection. Society has coined the term “gut feeling” for a reason, and the company works to demystify this concept. For one, Oshi points out that 90% of serotonin, the good mood hormone, is created in the gut before traveling to the brain. Many digestive disorders affect this process – and may result in anxiety or depression in people with conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

This connection between depression and GI disorders has been recorded and analyzed in a number of studies; here are a few: 1, 2, 3. Potentially, for a nation with millions of adults with mental health conditions, this means that the way to a healthy mind may begin with a healthy gut.

Sam Holliday, Oshi CEO, said in a statement: “We have proven the transformative ability of our model to fill the gaps in care and create value for everyone involved, and we are excited to have the support of healthcare’s leading investors as we scale to free millions of people from their suffering.”

This blog by Oshi lists a few strategies anyone can try to improve gut health on their own. How about that diaphragmatic breathing to facilitate digestion?

Image: Oshi Health