NORWALK, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HealthPrize Technologies, a leader in digital health solutions for medication adherence and patient engagement, today announced its first institutional financing of $3 million led by private equity firm Mansa Capital. Mansa has a right to increase its investment by an additional $2 million through July 31, 2015. As part of the deal, Ruben King-Shaw Jr., Mansa Capital Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer, will join the HealthPrize board of directors. Westbury Group LLC was HealthPrize’s exclusive financial advisor for the round.
HealthPrize creates and manages customized digital patient engagement and adherence programs across diverse medical conditions and demographic groups. Its current customers are global pharmaceutical companies, including a number of top-20 global pharmaceutical companies, with plans in progress to expand into other healthcare verticals including the payer and retail pharmacy markets as well as risk bearing provider groups and self-insured employers. The HealthPrize platform leverages a combination of behavioral economics concepts, gamification, education and rewards to maximize motivational impact. Patients enrolled in HealthPrize programs demonstrate persistently high engagement rates and materially higher adherence rates, nearly 50% higher than baseline on average.
The HealthPrize management team represents a wealth of experience across multiple industries—healthcare, medicine, consumer products, gaming, software, legal, and banking—that, in combination, endows the group with an ability to implement effective solutions within the highly regulated pharmaceutical industry and beyond. In addition, the company holds a series of patents that protects its use of incentives and gaming dynamics related to medication adherence and patient engagement, as well as to verification of prescription fills.
“The healthcare industry has a strong focus now on digital health approaches, and increasingly, there’s a greater understanding of how incentives and gamification—particularly in combination with education—can influence behavior,” said Thomas Kottler, HealthPrize CEO. “We are well poised for rapid growth at this juncture, having demonstrated phenomenal engagement and adherence rates in our first several programs. We are further encouraged by our favorable timing in the marketplace, as well as the growth in our customer portfolio, which now includes a number of top-20 global pharmaceutical companies.”
The financing will be used primarily to expand the HealthPrize team to meet the growing demand for its software and services. The financing will also support the company in its international expansion and in its foray into other healthcare verticals.
“We have been interested in the medication adherence space for quite some time, and HealthPrize uniquely impressed us from the start with its innovative approach, solid results, and the team’s ability to navigate the complexities of its pharmaceutical clients. Mansa looks forward to facilitating this critical growth phase, especially given healthcare’s heightened interest in adherence and its role in improving outcomes and decreasing costs,” said King-Shaw, Jr.
HealthPrize was founded in 2009 by Thomas Kottler, Katrina Firlik, MD, and James Jorasch.
About HealthPrize
HealthPrize Technologies provides an
innovative approach to addressing the problem of medication
non-adherence with an online and mobile-based program that is fun,
educational and rewarding. The HealthPrize system leverages gaming
dynamics, behavioral economics and proven concepts from consumer
marketing to maximize engagement while also using education to
strengthen the intrinsic motivation required for long-term persistence
to prescribed medications. www.healthprize.com
Twitter @HealthPrize
About Mansa Capital
Headquartered in Boston, MA, with local
offices in New York City, Miami and Dallas, Mansa Capital is a private
equity firm focused on the $2.5 trillion healthcare sector in the US
including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The firm uses its
expertise in healthcare policy and economics to help management teams
grow top line revenues and develop new products that build exceptional
value. Mansa Capital’s principals bring to the firm extensive expertise
in healthcare operations, marketing and finance including senior-level
experience in healthcare compliance, regulation and reimbursement. The
team has distinctive knowledge in the early identification of innovative
business models that enable patients and providers to thrive in the
post-healthcare reform environment. The firm also has special insights
in the largely untapped Hispanic healthcare market. www.MansaCapital.com
About Westbury Group LLC
Westbury Group is an investment
banking firm based in Westport, Connecticut, dedicated to providing
financial and strategic advisory services to premier middle-market
companies. Such services include providing strategic advice regarding
mergers and acquisitions, arranging financings through the private
placement of debt and equity securities and other advisory services,
including preparing fairness opinions and advising management teams
and/or Boards about special situations. The firm provides senior-level
attention, in-depth industry expertise and fully integrated resources.
By remaining focused and independent, Westbury Group looks to serve its
clients’ needs first. Westbury Group is a FINRA-registered
Broker-Dealer. www.westburygroup.com
