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A former Louisiana secretary of health is building a startup to get families primary care at home.
Nest Health landed $15 million in seed funding in May from 8VC and Blue Venture Fund.
Check out the pitch deck that Nest used to get funds for its expansion in New Orleans and beyond.
For four years, Dr. Rebekah Gee served as the secretary of the Louisiana health department.
Gee, a mother of five children and a practicing obstetrician-gynecologist, experienced Louisiana's problems with accessible, affordable healthcare in her own life and practice for years before moving into policy. During her time in the health department, Gee helped expand Medicaid services to hundreds of thousands of Louisiana residents, get disability care for more families, and reduce maternal and infant mortality rates.
After leaving the health department in 2020, Gee said she fielded multiple offers to lead or advise existing healthcare companies. But instead, she said she felt pulled to start a new company to confront Louisiana's healthcare disparities by providing at-home care directly to families.
"It's taking all of the things I've done in my career and bringing them to the private sector," she told Insider.
She started Nest Health in December 2021 to deliver primary care to children and their parents at home. Then, in May, Nest landed $15 million in seed funding, led by 8VC and Blue Venture Fund.
Nest launched its services in New Orleans this year to a small number of families, focusing on moderate to higher-risk parents and children. The startup provides primary care, behavioral healthcare, nutritional support, and other services to families, with a combination of in-person and virtual care.
In a 2022 review by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Louisiana fell at the bottom of multiple statewide rankings, ranking 49th out of 50 states on measurements of child well-being and health.
Gee said she's been frustrated by the lack of innovation by private healthcare companies in tackling these issues.
"Nest cannot address all of the inadequacies, but we address the fundamental issues that families face in getting care," she said.
Nest provided Insider with the presentation it used to raise its seed round. The startup removed financial details and forecasts from the deck before sharing it with Insider.
Here's the pitch deck Nest Health used to land $15 million.
Nest Health provides in-home and virtual healthcare services to children and families.
Nest Health
Nest piloted its services in New Orleans in summer 2022 before launching officially this year. Inequities like diminished access to quality healthcare are particularly pronounced in New Orleans, especially for Black families, Gee said.
Nest Health
Black children and families in Louisiana are less likely to have adequate health insurance coverage than their white counterparts, according to the Louisiana health department.
Gee first posited the idea behind Nest to 8VC managing partner Joe Lonsdale, who was enthusiastic about her vision, she said. "He was willing to take a bet on me, someone who had never started a for-profit company before," she said.
Nest Health
8VC incubated Nest, and Gee served effectively as an executive-in-residence at the firm while she worked to get Nest Health off the ground, she said.
Nest Health
Nest began trying to raise money in November 2022, Gee said. While the process was difficult in a tight capital environment, she said the company fielded a great deal of interest, especially around Nest's efforts to work with Medicaid plans.
Nest Health
In addition to primary care services provided in families' homes, Nest Health also offers virtual behavioral healthcare, nutrition support, and access to social workers.
Nest Health
"Families don't have time to get care, they don't have transportation that's reliable, and parents often can't get time off work," Gee said. Those issues can be aided by home care for both parents and children, she said.
Nest Health
Nest's model also enables providers to visit mothers in the home days after they give birth as opposed to weeks later, Gee said.
Nest employs about 20 full-time staffers, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants, and about 10 more people as contract employees, including social workers and dietitians.
Nest Health
Nest also helps coordinate referrals to other specialists, like obstetrician-gynecologists or urgent-care providers.
Nest Health
As of May 2023, Nest is serving fewer than 50 families.
Nest Health
Nest hopes to serve more than a thousand families this year, Gee said.
Nest Health
Nest said it's currently in network with three health plans, including Medicaid and Blue Cross Blue Shield exchange plans.
Nest Health
Nest plans to build its business slowly, in part because of the difficult fundraising environment, but also to allow the startup to grow responsibly and according to their patients' feedback, Gee said.
Nest Health
Nest aims to carve out a new space for itself in the market by caring for families together, rather than caring for individuals at a specific stage of life, Gee said.
Nest Health
Gee said Nest has mapped out a path to profitability, with a focus on making enough money to cover its care delivery team first without outside investment. The startup plans to be overall profitable "in the next few years," she said.
Nest Health
Gee said the startup is in negotiations to establish contracts in which Nest Health would be paid based on the quality of care it provides, rather than per visit.
Nest Health
Nest plans to conduct pilots in other states before expanding its services officially outside of Louisiana, to understand the healthcare preferences of families in those states, Gee said.
Nest Health
Nest plans to expand throughout the rest of Louisiana in 2024, and move into other states beginning in 2025.
