Short takes on a springlike ‘defrosting’: Redi Health’s $14M Series B, Dario Health buys Twill for ~$30M

Announced during ViVE, Redi Health gained a $14 million Series B. Funding came from not the VC or PE Usual Suspects so in evidence two short years ago, but from Blue Heron Capital with participation from inside investors Refinery Ventures, Mutual Capital Partners, Rev1 Ventures, and M25. This brings Redi’s total funding to about $19 million, after early-stage rounds totaling $5 million.

Based in Columbus, Ohio, Redi integrates program enrollment, a patient assistance program on a mobile app and website, and co-pay strategies into a single platform targeting patients with multiple chronic conditions. The app includes medication and symptom tracking, a pharma assistance program, and a navigator that connects providers, field teams, and patient support managers. Redi’s most convincing stats are that Traditional Patient Support Programs (PSPs) contribute to a non-adherence rate of approximately 70%, leading to estimated losses of over $600 billion annually for the pharmaceutical industry, but don’t get into the cost of non-adherence in patient outcomes: morbidity and mortality associated with poor medication adherence costs $528.4 billion annually (PAN Foundation). Yahoo!Finance, Mobihealthnews  Hat tip to Steven Wardell of Wardell Advisors

Another sign of the times? Complicated Deals. DarioHealth is buying Twill, formerly known as Happify (and with a behavioral health app still known as Happify). Dario is putting up $10 million in cash. The rest is in 10 million shares of common stock (Nasdaq,  DRIO) in the form of pre-funded warrants for the benefit of Twill’s debt holders and equity holders. These warrants will not vest all at once but in four phases after closing: 270 days, 360 days, 540 days, and 720 days. As Dario stock is at about $2.50, this is approximately $20 million for a total transaction cost of $30 million. 

Dario has a combined app and in-person approach to musculoskeletal (MSK) therapy, diabetes, hypertension, weight management, and behavioral health. Twill concentrates on telementalhealth, initially on reducing stress and increasing wellness, but now has expanded to the mental issues around chronic conditions, pregnancy and maternal health, with tailored and culturally adapted tracks and activities. It is not stated if the Twill products will continue under their present names.

The combination of both companies is expected to double Dario’s pro forma 2023 revenues to $30.5 million, based on extrapolating Q1-3 2023 revenues: $16.7 million in Dario revenues and $13.8 million in Twill revenues.

The rest of the Dario release is a dizzying chronicle of funding legerdemain that this Editor hasn’t seen since her airline days when she sat in on finance meetings that would ultimately decide 1) how many cities the airline could open and 2) how much she could spend on advertising media to support them. There’s a $22.4 million private placement of convertible preferred stock, inducement grants of stock options to employees of Twill to purchase up to 2,963,459 shares of Dario’s common stock at a strike price of $2.55, and 1,766,508 shares, 733,562 in the form of restricted stock units and 1,032,946 in the form of warrants mainly to keep key employees of Twill on board, such as co-founder/CEO Tomer Ben-Kiki, as well as to other employees, board members, and consultants. Investment firm Stifel is listed, but again none of the VC or PE Usual Suspects. 

Twill reported only a single non-equity assistance funding through the PharmStars accelerator in Spring 2023, so Dario likely did not have a lot of investors to buy out.

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