Our Series B
Today, I’m thrilled to announce that we’ve completed our Series B: a $37M funding round led by GV. Our existing partners Juxtapose, Redpoint and Zigg Capital also participated, along with two new investors: Tiger Global and Good Friends, the fund formed by the founders of Allbirds, Harry’s, and Warby Parker. This brings the total capital we’ve raised to $73M.
Before I talk about what this means for Tend, let me take you back to that faraway time before Covid.
An exciting start and a sudden halt
In February of 2020, Tend was humming. We had launched in October with a single studio in NYC’s Flatiron District. It quickly booked out for months. We opened two more studios, one in Wall Street and one in Williamsburg. They booked out as well. We couldn’t open new studios fast enough. In reviews, we were seeing patients say that, for the first time in their lives, they were actually looking forward to the dentist. Ninety-two percent of our patients told us they would be disappointed if they couldn’t keep seeing us.
Then, on March 1st, New York reported its first case of Covid. On March 16th, we closed our studios except for emergencies. On March 20th, we closed our studios completely. On the 22th, the state shut down. New York City had become the global epicenter of the pandemic. And we had just started a business there that involved putting hands in people’s mouths.
But as the city weathered the peak, and cases fell, we realized that perhaps we hadn’t launched Tend in the worst place at the worst time. Dentistry is a vital service: emergency care can’t wait, and preventative care is key to avoiding issues down the line. In appointment-only studios, patient volume can be carefully managed. PPE is standard in dentistry: uniforms, gloves, masks, face shields. So are medical-grade cleaning products and single-use or sterilized equipment.
Most importantly, our deep investment in technology gave us the ability to provide a safer experience. We reworked our digital booking and intake flows to include a pre-visit health check. By collecting insurance and credit card information online, we made check-in and check-out contactless. Teledentistry, led by our VP of Clinical Development, Dr. Marc Schlenoff, allowed us to triage emergencies. It also allowed us to reduce the number of in-person visits for orthodontic and cosmetic treatments.
Reopening and Series B
On June 8th, we reopened our studios with a reimagined patient journey that prioritized safety while retaining everything our community had come to love about Tend. In 30 days, our new patient appointments had recovered by 85%. Today, our revenue has recovered by over 150%. This defies the ADA’s outlook for the industry, which predicts that dental spend among Americans will continue to decline in 2020 before making a comeback in 2021. We’ve also opened two new studios, in Chelsea by Google’s NYC headquarters and near Grand Central, expanding our reach across the city.
Despite everything, New York has proved to be the perfect place to start our business. And we’re so happy to be part of the city’s ongoing recovery story.
It was against this backdrop that we raised our Series B. Our objectives are to expand to 20 or more studios in NYC and new metro areas across the country, starting with Boston and Washington DC; scale our operations and our team, which is already 150 employees strong in New York and Nashville; make people look forward to their daily routines with a suite of amazing oral care products; and continue to invest deeply in technology and experience.
Our partnership with GV
I couldn’t be more excited that this funding round was led by GV. GV has an impressive track record of backing disruptive consumer healthcare companies like One Medical and Flatiron Health.
We especially admire what they’ve accomplished with One Medical. One Medical is an experience-oriented, tech-focused brand that’s beloved by its patients. Like the dental market, the primary care market is massive, and it’s concentrated in metro areas. We know One Medical’s story first-hand. Tom Lee, One Medical’s Founder, was one of our original investors. And Tend’s Chief Development Officer, Andy Grover, helped One Medical scale as its VP of Real Estate and Development before joining Tend.
In partnership with GV, we can’t wait to drive Tend’s mission of creating a new standard for oral health, starting at the dentist and extending into daily life.
A promising future
It doesn’t feel like it to us, given how much has happened in the past eleven months, but Tend is still less than a year old. There’s still so much for us to achieve. We’re just getting started.
Most important to all of us is what a better dental experience unlocks: more care. If going to the dentist is a great experience, patients are more likely to go, get the care they need, and have healthier mouths and bodies.
New York City is onboard. We think other cities across the country will be, too.
See you soon, America.
– Doug
Doug Hudson is the CEO of Tend. He has founded and led several consumer-facing ventures.
