Ostro secures $45M to ‘bring e-commerce software to healthcare’

By Riley Kaminer

Healthcare is one of the biggest sectors in the US, making up almost 20% of GDP in 2020. Yet the adoption of cutting-edge technologies remains relatively stagnant.

It is upon this backdrop that one Miami-based startup has just raised $45 million to bring better technology to healthcare professionals, consumers, and brands.

Ostro (formerly known as RxDefine) has developed three digitally-enabled tools that all have the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes. First is Ostro Navigate, which helps healthcare brands more effectively convey their value to consumers through a unique digital engagement. Ostro Attribute enables brands to link their marketing activities to clinical outcomes. And Ostro Consult is a telehealth platform that connects patients to clinicians.

Participants in this fundraise include Founders Fund, Byers Capital, Caffeinated Capital, Greycroft, Bling Capital, Trust Ventures, and RRE Ventures. So far, Ostro has raised over $55 million since it was founded in 2019. 

Ostro reports that in 2022, it increased its overall employee base by 50% and grew its annual revenue by over 250%.

“2022 was a banner year for Ostro, and we look forward to even more in 2023,” said co-founder and CEO Chase Feiger, an MD by training.

Most of Ostro’s 20 clients are drug companies and developers of medical devices, digital therapeutics, and diagnostics. These companies are actively aiming to tackle a variety of conditions, from cardiovascular disease and pulmonology to infections diseases and women’s health. In Feiger’s words, “[Ostro is] bringing e-commerce software to healthcare.”

Ostro’s platforms help guide patients and practitioners towards the right medication or device for their needs, leveraging AI- and ML-powered tools. In an interview with Axios, Feiger asserted that Ostro’s tools help patients access treatments sooner and more equitably. 

“We started the company so that regardless of your affiliation or institution you can learn about new treatment options,” he said. “And so that you don’t have to spend hundreds of hours doing research.”

This focus on patient outcomes has led to Ostro passing on potential clients. “When we meet marketing managers we make it clear we want to ethically drive patients towards getting the right treatment for them, which, by the way, might not be their treatment,” Feiger explained.  

“We’ve turned away at least four customers where that was not well understood by the company,” Feiger continued. “I view my role as a physician and doctor first and foremost, before an entrepreneur.”

Before founding Ostro, Feiger co-founded Parsable, a mobile-first software platform for collaboratively completing process-based work. The San Francisco startup raised upwards of $130 million from VC firms, and eventually was majority acquired by private equity firms.

Feiger is bullish about the future for Ostro: “It’s been a blue ocean for solutions like ours in the market.” Most of Ostro’s major competitors, such as Veeva Systems and Epicor, serve larger companies.

READ MORE ON REFRESH MIAMI:

Riley Kaminer