Behavioral health and virtual dementia care platform Rippl continues to scale its operations, most recently with a $23 million fundraise.
Seattle, Washington-based Rippl raised the funds in Series A capital to expand services to new states and create value-based care partnerships with payors and payviders to expand dementia care offerings.
The latest fundraising was led by Kin Ventures and included investment from ARCH Ventures, General Catalyst, GV (Google Ventures), F-Prime, Mass General Brigham Ventures, and 1843 Capital.
Rippl provides virtual dementia care resources to patients and caregivers, aiming to keep patients out of the emergency department with the goal of reducing healthcare costs and stress. The company partners with health systems and other organizations working with Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, accountable care organizations (ACOs), and other payviders to deliver dementia care services through value-based care arrangements.
Rippl co-founder and CEO Kris Engskov said the company will use its new funding to expand the reach of Rippl’s services to new states in the next 12 to 24 months.
Additionally, the funds will be used to add technology offerings to its services through its artificial intelligence (AI) digital assistant, in conjunction with care navigators and dementia care team members. In April, Rippl acquired tech startup Kinto to improve Rippl’s virtual patient and family caregiver experience.
“AI is really a digital assistant sitting behind our care navigators and our care team to really deliver the care in a much more comprehensive, consistent way,” Engskov added.
In the next year and beyond, Rippl is planning to expand to Arizona, California, and Florida.
Earlier this year, Rippl partnered with the Alzheimer’s Association to build a new digital dementia care navigation tool for caregivers and physicians known as Dementia Care Navigation Services (DCNS).
“Our primary driver for deciding to enter a new state is really about having a great partner that we believe is truly invested in this care model,” Engskov said. “There’s a long list of things that you have to do that take a lot of time, money, and investment, but key partnerships are what’s really driving our decision-making.”
Rippl is also part of the GUIDE model developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to expand dementia care services to older adults living with dementia and their caregivers. Through GUIDE, organizations like Rippl will receive reimbursement for services previously not covered, such as care navigation, education, and coordination, Engskov noted.
The new payment model developed through GUIDE will provide compensation for meeting certain benchmarks identified by CMS, while at the same time, organizations like Rippl can collaborate with payviders that assume more risk.
“Being in these plans is a choice, and it’s highly competitive, and we can really work with them to craft something where we can share risk and deliver something truly differentiated,” Engskov said. “There’s lots of opportunity to do more, and building the foundation for that is what we’re trying to do right now.”
