Forward Raises $225M Series D From Marc Benioff, The Weeknd

Health care startup Forward Health has raised $225 million in a Series D round from investors including the SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Salesforce1 CEO Marc Benioff, and singer The Weeknd.

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The company is building a membership-based health care system that aims to help people be proactive about their health. The idea for Forward Health, which was founded in 2016, came after CEO Adrian Aoun’s brother suffered a heart attack, and he realized how reactive health care could be. Doctors didn’t know there was anything wrong with Aoun’s brother until he was sitting in an ambulance, Aoun said in an interview with Crunchbase News.

“Can you imagine if we waited until a car accident to tell you your brakes need servicing?” Aoun said.

Forward Health operates clinics across the country where members can come in for baseline evaluation, which includes a body scan, heart health, lung health, blood work that is processed on-site, and a genetic sequence.

“We basically collect over 500 biometric data points about you, and you and your doctor use that information to figure out what programs make sense for you,” Aoun said.

“Forward does your normal everyday primary care, but the idea is whatever programs you’re using you walk away with a plan tailored to you,” he said.

Patients with a family history of heart disease, for example, can enroll in a heart health program to prevent things like heart attacks. Members also have access to a 24/7 care team and through Forward’s mobile app can do virtual visits with doctors.

Membership is $149 per month with no copays and no requirement for insurance. According to Aoun, the company offers all the services any other primary care physician offers.

Investors in the round include Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Benioff, and The Weeknd, who came across Forward after passing by a location in Los Angeles.

“I invested in Forward Health because I walked into the Los Angeles location and couldn’t believe what I saw: a state-of-the-art facility that looked like the exact opposite of what you’d expect to see in a typical doctor’s office — with no waiting room and everyone being seen straight away,” The Weeknd said in a statement.

With the new funding, the company will focus on expanding across the country. It currently has locations in New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Orange County, and will soon be opening clinics in other cities, including Boston and Miami. The funding will also be used to expand the programs Forward offers beyond programs like heart health, cancer prevention, COVID-19 and mental health.

Illustration: Dom Guzman