Startup Spotlight: telemedicine with Alto Pharmacy
San Francisco, California-based healthcare startup Alto Pharmacy offers a digital pharmacy for consultations, medication delivery and support.
Operating in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego, Seattle, and Sacramento, the company suggests one of its pharmacies covers the same one day delivery fulfilment area as 400 chain pharmacies. The service works by offering customers the ability to schedule delivery of medication to their home or place of work, while also being able to compare the prices of medicines.
That buzz has led to a total of $356mn being raised across six funding rounds since its foundation in 2015. This February, the firm raised some $250mn in a Series D round led by the SoftBank Vision Fund II. In a press release, Matt Gamache-Asselin, CEO of Alto, said: “As we harness our technology and bring this experience to millions of new customers, we are confident that we'll continue finding even faster and friendlier ways to get medicine into the hands of patients in need."
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Justin Wilson, Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, said: "US pharmacies comprise a $350B market, but providers and consumers face meaningful pain points. Traditional pharmacies still rely on outdated technologies like phone, fax, and paper, that aren't built for our increasingly digital world. Alto has rebuilt the pharmacy infrastructure to align all stakeholders to improve health outcomes. We're excited to partner with Alto and support its mission to improve the quality of life for everyone who needs medicine."
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, opportunities to minimise contact with the sick are being actively investigated. By digitalising the approach to pharmacies, Alto offers another potential method of minimising unnecessary contact. Accordingly, Alto has arranged such measures as designated safe place delivery of prescriptions and the pick up and delivery of personal protective equipment from the community to healthcare professionals.