The week that was in M&A, financings: Included Health buys Firefly, Candid’s $120M raise, DarioHealth’s $23M RDO, TytoCare’s $25M growth round + new execs, Aurenar’s $5.7M seed for ICU neuromodulation

July 30, 2026 | by | No Comments

Mr. Market woke up out of his summertime nap with some surprising end-of-July activity. What will August bring?

On the M&A front, virtual care mega Included Health is acquiring Firefly Health. This adds a virtual-first health plan and advanced primary care services to Included’s established telehealth and care navigation business. In February, Included quietly entered the health plan business with an Alternative Plan Design for employers that offers an alternative approach to health benefits. Firefly is classified as an Alternative Health Plan as Administrative Services Only (ASO), quoting a 15% savings in total cost of care and 90% member satisfaction. Interestingly, San Francisco-based Included’s acquisition cost of the Watertown, Massachusetts company is not disclosed nor are any management or service transitions. The deal is expected to close in Q3 2026 and is subject to regulatory review. Readers will recall that Included was formed from telehealth pioneers (2011-12) Grand Rounds and Doctor on Demand, with the small LGBTQ focused Included Health picked up in 2021, then rebranded with that name. It is solely focused on employers, health plans, public sector organizations, and unions.  Release, MedCityNews

Candid Health raised a $120 million Series D. Lead investor for this revenue cycle management (RCM) company is Sixth Street Growth, with participation from Oak HC/FT, 8VC, and Y Combinator. This follows a February $52.5 million Series C led by Oak HC/FT for a total raise of $220 million since 2020. TechCrunch Candid concentrates on provider financials, automating medical billing and health insurance claims to speed payments. Sixth Street release, MedCityNews

DarioHealth’s latest ‘rabbit out of hat’ is a $23.5 million RDO. As we’ve previously noted, DarioHealth started in MSK therapies and by 2023 branched out to clinically-based interventional care management solutions through apps and consults in cardiometabolic and behavioral health, including GLP-1 prescribing for weight management. DarioHealth’s latest is true to its form in creative financings as previously noted here and here. This bit of funding legerdemain is an RDO, a registered direct offering. From the SEC Form 8-K, DarioHealth is selling to institutional investors 2.4 million of their publicly traded stock at $6.80/share plus pre-funded warrants for over a million shares at $6.7999. This raises $23.5 million before deducting the offering expenses. The RDO  closed on 23 July. Mobihealthnews

Our old friends at TytoCare, notably quiet of late, added $25 million to their war chest and brought on some fresh horses. The growth/venture round brings their total financing to $231 million. The round for the remote physical exam tech company was led by Insight Partners, with participation from existing strategic investors OliveTree, HOOP, Qumra Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, OrbiMed and others. In the release, the lead repositions of the company as now a “AI-First Clinical Enablement Platform, Bringing FDA-Cleared AI-Powered Insights into Virtual Primary Care to Support Cardiopulmonary and Oncology Care” which doesn’t quite follow through on the website which focuses on their devices. Joining the company are Adam Pellegrini as CEO, replacing co-founder/CEO Dedi Gilad who moves to chairman. The other co-founder, Ofer Tzadik, remains with the operating company in NYC and Israel. Mr. Pellegrini is the former CEO of MSK/pulmonary management company Kaia Health, acquired last January by Sword Health for $285 million, and previously co-founder and former CEO of cancer support company Jasper Health out of Redesign Health. Also onboarding as COO is Greg Orr, former Walgreens VP Digital Health and COO of Jasper Health. One suspects some changes are in the offing. Mobihealthnews

Our last and most unusual company is Aurenar, which has developed a non-invasive neuromodulator for inflammation that stimulates the vagus nerve in the ear. The destined use is for ICUs to modulate the body’s secondary and toxic inflammatory responses to conditions such as subarachnoid hemorrhages and stroke. The V-Link vagus nerve stimulator gained FDA breakthrough device designation on 30 June. The oversubscribed seed round of $5.7 million was led by American Heart Association Ventures’ Go Red for Women Venture Fund and Solas BioVentures, with participation from BJC Health and Kaleida Capital. Initial validation has been through multiple pilot clinical trials at St. Louis-based Washington University, where Aurenar is located. The funding will be used for pivotal trials around stroke, including final device development, verification and validation testing, plus regulatory submissions to the FDA. Other uses will center on additional inflammatory conditions disproportionately affecting women. FierceHealthcare, MassDevice, Mobihealthnews

Deal and news roundup: Therapy Brands’ big KKR investment, AppliedVR’s non-painful $29M Series A; Akili tests cognitive-boosting games; Firefly Health lights up $40M; Mastercard-b.well partner, two big IPOs filed, more

April 8, 2021 | by

Behavioral health stays on the bubble. Therapy Brands, a Birmingham, Alabama-based company with a suite of mental and behavioral health practice tools for providers, announced (7 April) that major investment firm KKR will take a majority interest in the company. Existing investor PSG will participate. Exiting are current investors Lightyear Capital LLC, Oak HC/FT, and Greater Sum Ventures. Neither expected closing nor financial terms were disclosed. Previous investment was private equity and is not available (Crunchbase).

Therapy, founded in 2013, has a suite of practice management, telehealth, and data collection tools encompassing practice management; software tools for substance, psychotherapy, and rehab treatment; two HIPAA-compliant telehealth/e-prescription platforms; billing; and staff performance evaluation. It’s remained under the radar yet boasts leadership from Greenway Health–their CEO, Kimberly O’Loughlin–Community Brands, Advance Publications, ADP, and Henry Schein. 

Virtual reality and its effects on the brain are growing warm as an approach to pain management. LA-based AppliedVR announced a $29 million Series A with F-Prime Capital, JAZZ Venture Partners, Sway Ventures, GSR Ventures, Magnetic Ventures, and Cedars-Sinai. Their EaseVRx was the first VR-based prescription therapeutic to receive FDA Breakthrough Device Designation late last year to care for treatment-resistant fibromyalgia and lower back pain. VR is used to modulate the brain’s perception of pain through cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and biofeedback, reducing it in intensity and emotional effect. Total funding is $35 million since 2016. While still in clinical trials for other types of pain management (recent release), EaseVRx is being used by 200 provider groups and 60,000 patients. This Editor noted their inclusion in a Louisville Thrive Center showcase back in 2017 when Care Innovations was there; they are still listed under Social Engagement. Release. FierceHealthcare includes AppliedVR with a roundup of March deals.

Related in brain management is therapy for a long-term effect of COVID-19 infection recovery–cognitive impairment. An emerging long-term effect of COVID-19 illness in some individuals has been ‘brain fog’. Akili Interactive of Boston is collaborating with Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center to evaluate their video game-based digital therapeutic AKL-T01 as a treatment for patients with cognitive dysfunction following COVID-19. Their EndeavorRX has also been used with therapy for children with ADHD and includes a behavior tracking app. Release

Boston-based startup Firefly Health scored a luminescent Series B of $40 million. Their current platform provides integrated in-person and virtual primary health along with specialist referrals and behavioral support in what they term a ‘digital Kaiser’. The raise will be used to launch a targeted health plan offering. Firefly already works with Aetna, Anthem, Tufts Health Plan, and UnitedHealthcare, among others, but at this time is pretty much limited to Massachusetts and does not accept Medicare nor Medicaid. Jonathan Bush, former CEO of athenahealth, joined back in 2019 as executive chairman a year after his departure. FierceHealthcare

And in other news…

Two IPO filings plus a SPAC:

  • Privia Health, a national physician platform furnishing management services to providers such as group formation (ACOs) and technologies for coordination and value-based patient care, announced their S-1 with the SEC. No share offering information was disclosed. Lead managers are Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, so it will be sizeable.
  • Agilon Health, another management services company organizing community physicians for Medicare Advantage in their ‘Total Care Model’ value-based care for 65+, announced their S-1 for 46.6 million shares priced between $20 to $23 per share. At the low price, this would be a raise of $932 million. JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and BofA Securities are leads. Hat tip on both to HISTalk Morning Headlines.
  • Better Therapeutics, a digital therapeutics/cognitive health platform addressing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, will be merging with a SPAC, Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp. II, closing by late summer for listing on NASDAQ. Projected: $113 million of cash proceeds, including a fully committed $50 million PIPE and up to $57.5 million of cash held in the Mountain Crest II trust account assuming no redemptions, for a valuation of about $187 million. Release, Mobihealthnews

Mastercard and b.well Connected Health, a consumer health management platform via employers, health systems, and health plans, are launching a patient identity verification tool for mobile phones. FierceHealthcare

And a health tech entrepreneur turns towards the payer side, for now. Karl Hess joins Texas Health Aetna, a joint venture between Arlington-based Texas Health Resources and Aetna, as interim CEO. Mr. Hess is better known to health techies on LinkedIn as principal of OnDigitalHealth Consulting, Kalico Partners in population health management, Welltok, and Collain Healthcare. Becker’s Payer Issues