Waltz Health: Why We Partnered
We are incredibly excited to announce our partnership with Waltz Health, a consumer pharmacy solution bringing drug price transparency to the market by rewiring the pharmaceutical supply chain. Our investment comes as a part of a $35m Series A round with our syndicate partners GV, Byers Capital, Blue Venture Fund, Echo Health Ventures, and Twine Ventures.
Prescription drug affordability is a pervasive problem: nearly 1 in 4 Americans have trouble paying for prescribed medications, and those with multiple chronic conditions experience this even more acutely. Undergirding this issue is a complex pricing system that places a significant cost burden on consumers and retailers. Waltz Health is the first company to partner with every component of the pharmaceutical supply chain, including consumers, payers, and pharmacies, to drive technology-enabled pricing, distribution, and prescribing.
The company’s first product, Marketplace Search, empowers consumers with prescription drug information and available pricing to help them afford life-saving medications and stay compliant with their drug regimen. In working with pharmacies, Waltz Health will scale nationally as a trusted source for Americans to better understand and afford their prescription medicines. When Define met the Waltz Health team there was clear thesis alignment around the importance of engendering consumer trust by working with one of the most important stakeholders in healthcare — the pharmacy. The team’s unique go-to-market will not only produce savings for retailers and payers, but also serve as a trusted source for consumers regarding their prescription medications. This bold vision and focus on building a best-in-class consumer experience resonated deeply with the Define team.
Waltz is led by Mark Thierer — a seasoned executive and former CEO at Catamaran (acquired by OptumRx for $13b) — and a team that has an intimate understanding of pharmacy benefit managers. Their unparalleled knowledge and connectivity gave us strong conviction in their ability to execute at scale.
Thus far, Define’s work with Waltz Health has focused on building a world-class team, cutting edge product, and a go-to-market strategy predicated on gold standard Silicon Valley-first principles.
“At Waltz, achieving our mission of rewiring the pharmaceutical marketplace requires great partners. When we first met with Lynne Chou O’Keefe and Define Ventures, it was evident that they bring a best-in-class team with an unparalleled level of understanding in the digital health space. Even more importantly, they completely understood our vision of a smarter pharmaceutical system and we look forward to achieving that together.”
— Mark Thierer, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
This financing will be used to accelerate the product build and continue hiring top engineering talent. We could not be prouder to partner with Waltz as they embark on a mission to make drugs more affordable and accessible for all.
