McKesson Ventures Bets on Home Care Tech

For the first time ever, McKesson Ventures has made a direct investment in the home care space.

San Francisco-based ClearCare, a home care tech startup that provides paperless care management software, has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from McKesson Ventures, the venture capital branch of Fortune 500’s McKesson Corporation, the companies announced Tuesday.

The investment allows ClearCare to integrate into its platform value-added modules such as telemedicine services, remote monitoring and diagnostics and the ability to provide medical supplies and medications to partners across the country, according to a news release. The money will also go toward expanding ClearCare’s cloud-based web and mobile software technology.

McKesson Ventures’ backing of ClearCare is its first time directly investing in home care, Tom Rodgers, senior vice president and managing director of McKesson Ventures, tells Home Health Care News.

“What intrigues us most about the ClearCare platform is the fact that they can, for the first time ever, aggregate data on what care was provided and how the patient is trending,” Rodgers says. “In that data lies the connection to the health care system.”

McKesson Corporation is a health care services and information technology company currently ranked 11th on the Fortune 500, while McKesson Ventures specializes in early and growth stage companies. ClearCare offers a front- and back-office tech solution for private duty home care agencies.

ClearCare’s network of providers spans across the United States and Canada and consists of over 2,000 agencies ranging in size from startups to some of the largest home care enterprises. The company’s customers serve roughly 150,000 seniors and provide more than 150 million hours of care annually, according to the release.

ClearCare’s growth proved particularly attractive for McKesson Ventures, Rodgers says, noting how the company launched on a local and regional level and has since established itself with four of the five largest national brands in home care.

“Strategically, that’s what got us to go there with the investment,” he tells HHCN.

Plus, Rodgers says ClearCare is well positioned to further connect health and home care settings.

“The more you can layer on that home tech side really opens the door to home care in the health care continuum,” Rodgers says. “Up until now, they’ve been largely separate.”

The funding from McKesson follows ClearCare’s $11 million round of funding last year led by Bessemer Venture Partners, a venture capital firm which contains an investment portfolio that spans companies across various industries, from health care and cloud computing software to retail and financial services. It also adds to backing from existing investors Qualcomm Ventures and Harbor Pacific Capital and effectively boosts fundraising from its previously held $15.5 million total.

“We’re excited to be the bridge connecting home care to the larger health care system,” ClearCare CEO Geoffrey Nudd said in a prepared statement. “With McKesson’s investment, our organizations can work together to achieve that vision.”

Written by Kourtney Liepelt