Virgo Leads $16.1 Million Series A Preferred Investment in Lifesprk
Virgo's Investment Funds Growth Plans And Health Tech Innovations; Industry Veteran Pooja Goel Joins Board
Minneapolis, MN, April 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lifesprk, LLC (“Lifesprk”), a leader in whole person services for seniors, announces $16.1 million Series A Preferred stock investment led by Virgo Investment Group (“Virgo”) to fund organic growth, strategic partnerships, and implementation of a propriety technology platform that enables its Life Experience Alternative Delivery System (LEADS.) Virgo’s Managing Director Pooja Goel, an industry veteran with experience in value-based operations and contracting, joins Lifesprk’s newly formed board of directors.
“As we sought strategic and financial partners to help us accelerate growth, we looked favorably on experienced healthcare investors who shared our vision for innovation and wellness as well as having deep expertise in scaling value-based, technology enabled models,” said Joel Theisen, BSN, CEO of Lifesprk. “We chose Virgo because like us, they believe in addressing the rising cost of healthcare costs and addressing social determinants of health (SDoH) in parallel with medical management to create a better life-long experience for seniors. The traditional model of healthcare is siloed, broken, and confused in payment reform. Now is the time to capitalize on immediate market opportunities for true disruption.”
Founded in 2004, Lifesprk is a leading provider of proven whole-person primary care, in-home health, and SDoH services for seniors, utilizing a unique, proprietary, value-based population health solution that delivers the “triple aim” of improved client experience, improved outcomes, and lower total cost of care.
Pooja Goel explained that Virgo believes in founder-run businesses that are disrupting healthcare in a meaningful way. “Joel and his team were a fit culturally and were looking for a partnership that transcended a capital infusion,” said Goel. “What we liked about Lifesprk is their ability to provide a true, comprehensive solution when caring for seniors backed by outcomes. They understand what it takes to improve the post-acute space and have successfully demonstrated they can do this while maintaining the engagement of the senior and their loved ones.”
Lifesprk will invest in technological innovations to operationalize LEADS by using its proprietary Electronic Life Record (ELR) to deliver complete information to clients, families, and caregivers through proprietary and third-party applications to address two primary challenges in senior healthcare services: the lack of tracking SDoH and interoperability.
Lifesprk’s whole person solutions are perfectly timed for expansion and disruption in the senior care market with the new era of population health-related market dynamics that are shifting compensation from reactionary and transactional models towards value-based healthcare systems. “The annual spend on healthcare in the US is out of control approaching 20% of GDP,” added Theisen. “A large percentage of spend is driven by the oldest seniors, and as life expectancy increases the oldest seniors are living longer but not actually better. We need to do more to fill gaps in care but also improve opportunities for wellness and community-based initiatives that serve seniors holistically and incorporate tech-enabled platforms that provide a 360-degree view of a senior’s full ecosystem.”
“Lifesprk understands that coordination of care is not just handing off data to the next provider; rather closely navigating the senior and family through an integrated process of discovery, engagement, guidance and advocacy to reach best outcomes,” added Goel. “They provide a unique offering in a space that is in dire need of connectivity and community as seniors age. As they make their entry into value-based care they’re able to combine offerings in a way no one has done before. We are excited about the impact they are going to make in the Minnesota market and beyond!”
Minneapolis-based Cherry Tree & Associates, LLC served as Lifesprk’s exclusive investment banking advisor.
About Lifesprk
Based in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, Lifesprk’s Life Experience Alternative Delivery System (LEADS) is a proprietary, technology-enabled delivery system focused on the whole person that improves client experience and quality outcomes, lowering the total cost of care and building life-long affinity. Trusting relationships are established through whole-person primary care, life management, engagement, and navigation services working within a high-performance community network. Its technology stack combines EMR, SDOH, first- and third-party data to enable predictive analytics for scalable individualized solutions for all stakeholders. The first complete payor-agnostic community-based delivery system, LEADS can be applied to a full continuum of care settings and reimbursement models, putting Lifesprk at the forefront of value-based care initiatives. With an award-winning culture committed to sparking lives, Lifesprk has a proven track record of consistent growth with solid financials and outcomes as well as experience scaling and integrating with a wide range of partners. Visit Lifesprk.com.
About Virgo
Founded in 2009, Virgo’s mission is to build meaningful and innovative businesses that are leaders in their addressable markets. Virgo partners with Founder-led or Family-owned businesses, and targets companies undergoing industry or company-specific change. Virgo drives value-add initiatives post-investment with a focus on human capital transformation, business process enhancement and technology implementation. Virgo is an idea that there is a more creative, a more aligned, and a more human way to invest in and to build businesses together. The Firm has raised over $1.8 billion and completed 60 investments to date.
