Carbon Health raises $100 million with plans to expand pop-up clinics ahead of COVID-19 vaccination programs

Carbon Health has raised a $100 million Series C funding round, led by Dragoneer Investment Group and including participation from prior investors Brookfield Technology Partners, DCVC and Builders VC. This funding will be used to help the SF-based healthcare provider startup to continue to expand its nationwide footprint, including with the opening of 100 pop-up clinics planned for across 20 markets across the U.S.

This past year has seen Carbon Health expand from just seven clinics to 27, spread out across six different states. The company, which focuses on primary care, has also introduced virtual care options with an emphasis on what it calls “omnichannel” care, or offering services in whatever method is most convenient, effective and appropriate for its customers. The startup has always aimed at a hybrid care approach, but it’s emphasizing the flexibility of its model in response to COVID-19, and has in particular accelerated its plans around its pop-up clinics.

These are deployed in under-utilized spaces in regions where additional care options are needed, including parking lots and garages. Carbon Health partnered early with Reef Technology on opening these locations, using shipping-container style mobile trailers to provide on-site care. Carbon Health founder and CEO Eren Bali explained to me that while remote care can be very effective, in some instances, it requires some nurse practitioner support with virtual physician-guided services to provide a complete solution for customers.

Carbon Health to launch 100 pop-up COVID-19 testing clinics across the US

The company is also looking to support greater testing capacity using this model, and eventually looking ahead to providing an infrastructure that can help with widespread COVID-19 vaccine distribution, once one is ready to go. While some scientific results this week have been very promising, including with Pfizer’s Phase 3 clinical trial, ultimately the effort of undertaking a national vaccine inoculation program will require cooperation among many stakeholders, including primary care providers.

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