ImpactAlpha, March 24 — Unite Us is a tech company that connects individuals and communities to supportive services, like affordable healthcare, housing and social programs. The company has raised a $35 million Series B round backed by health and fintech venture capital firm Oak HC/FT, health access investment firm Town Hall Ventures and Define Ventures. Existing investors Scout Ventures, Luminate and New York Ventures also participated.
Unite Us was launched in 2013 by a team of military veterans to help other vets and their families connect to support services. The company has since expanded its focus to include low-income and vulnerable communities to build a comprehensive network of services and organizations around “social determinants of health.”
The company’s approach is based on a software platform that connects health systems and payers, government agencies and community-based organizations and helps them manage administrative services, track outcomes, and identify gaps in services and issues that require greater resource investment. “Think standardized intake, assessments, care plans, and structured outcomes across the community,” Unite Us’s website says.
“We cannot impact health without ensuring that people have access to basic needs like food, housing and transportation,” Nancy Brown of Unite Us investor Oak HC/FT said in a statement, adding that Unite Us is addressing the challenge of “finding, connecting and delivering needed services in an efficient and effective way at scale.”
Bridging gaps
Other impact investors and organizations are trying to bridge gaps in social services and healthcare as well. Unite Us backer Town Hall Ventures was started last year by Obama’s former Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services’ head Andy Slavitt to spur a “massive and necessary shift” in healthcare for low-income Americans. Within four months it raised its $115 million first fund to invest in companies and organizations addressing healthcare access, affordability and social issues impacting health.
Also, Enterprise Community Partners recently launched a $250 million initiative to integrate health and affordable housing over the next five years. Enterprise is separately partnering with non-profit healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente on a $100 million loan fund to build and preserve low-income rental housing.
