CVS and NEA just sank $166 million into a startup building a new care model for kidney disease. Here's the pitch deck that convinced CapitalG to back Strive Health's Series B.

Kidney-care company Strive Health just landed a hefty cash infusion to continue its mission of displacing dialysis giants like DaVita and improving care for patients with kidney disease. 

In May, Strive Health announced it raised $166 million in Series C funding led by healthcare venture firm NEA. The round included CVS Health Ventures, CapitalG, Echo Health Ventures, Town Hall Ventures, Ascension Ventures, and Redpoint.

The company said it plans to use the funding to expand into new markets and put more resources towards its existing partnerships with insurers, health systems, nephrologists, and medical groups.

The capital will also help Strive Health improve the value-based care model that's core to its business, according to the company. Through its partnerships, Strive Health helps improve outcomes for patients at all stages of kidney disease by providing interventions designed with machine learning.

The Series C is Strive Health's latest raise since its $140 million Series B in March 2021. CapitalG, the venture arm of Google parent company Alphabet, led the Series B.

The company's goal, Strive Health CEO Riopelle told Insider at the time of the Series B, is to slow the progression of the disease and ultimately help them avoid the need for dialysis in clinics like the ones DaVita and Fresenius operate. Dialysis treatment cleans the blood for patients whose kidneys don't function well enough to provide that function on their own.

Should patients need dialysis or a kidney transplant, Strive helps them get to the right treatment. Strive also operates more traditional dialysis centers where patients come in for treatment, but the primary focus is on providing dialysis care at home, Riopelle said.

Riopelle said few companies collect and interpret data on patients with kidney disease, who are typically complex and expensive to care for. Strive uses that data to make predictions about what a patient's progress may be, what type of clinician is best suited to working with them, and how likely they are to progress in the disease quickly.

As of May 2023, Strive Health supports 80,000 patients with chronic or end-stage kidney disease in 30 states, according to the company.

See the presentation that won over CapitalG and other tech investors to the tune of $140 million in March 2021. Some confidential details have been removed by Strive.

Strive Health starts its investor presentation with its mission statement of "compassionate kidney care the way it should be done."

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Strive is responsible for managing the care of kidney disease patients for health insurers and health systems. It does that through technology, in-person meetings with nurses, as well as through dialysis centers it operates that promote home-based dialysis.

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The hope is that by working with people living with kidney disease earlier and more proactively, Strive can keep them healthier and avoid treatments like dialysis for longer. In turn, that brings down the cost of medical care.

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Strive's team includes leaders who've spent time at places like kidney care company DaVita and digital health companies including Evolent Health.

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Strive Health said in 2021 that it aimed to tackle $410 billion of unmanaged kidney disease spend in the US.

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The market alone for people who've been diagnosed with kidney disease is $213 billion, Strive notes in the presentation, citing an LEK analysis. There's another $199 billion market from undiagnosed patients.

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As the healthcare industry moves from paying for care based on how much is delivered to how well it's delivered, startups like Strive stand to benefit.

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Strive then lays out how its platform works.

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By coordinating medical care for patients with kidney disease, offering in-person care with "Kidney Heroes" who are nurse practitioners and other medical professionals, and operating dialysis centers, Strive's goal is to better care for the patients it's responsible for.

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There's a lot of data that surrounds people living with kidney disease, from insurance claims to doctor's visits, to pharmacy information. Strive wants to use that information to better inform its care teams and how they in turn care for the patients they work with.

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Strive finishes its presentation by sharing results after launching its first partnerships in 2020.

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Working with insurers like Humana and medical groups like Conviva (owned by Humana), Strive said it had $850 million under management in 2021.

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The presentation highlights a patient with stage 4 chronic kidney disease. Before enrolling in Strive's program, the patient was admitted to the hospital frequently, including six times in 2019. Since joining Strive, the patient has not yet been admitted to the hospital.

Strive Health