Baird Capital Leads Atlanta Cancer Treatment Analytics Startup's $28M Funding Round

Staff Report

Friday, May 29th, 2020

Oncology Analytics, a leading data analytics and technology-enabled services company dedicated to helping health plans, providers, and patients with solutions that are purpose-built for oncology, has announced the completion of a Series C funding round of $28MBaird Capital led the round and joins existing investors Oak HC/FT, McKesson Ventures, and The Blue Venture Fund.

The Series C financing will enable Oncology Analytics to expand its oncology-focused capabilities, accelerate real-world data and analytics solutions for health plans, and increase the market share of its technology-enabled utilization management solution. The company also announced that Michael Liang, partner at Baird Capital, has joined Oncology Analytics' Board of Directors. 

"The increasing cost of cancer care in the US has created an enormous burden for health plans and patients, which requires new thinking and a radical approach to solve," said Liang. "Oncology Analytics' strategy, which puts data-science and real-world evidence at the center of the treatment decision-making process, demonstrates the type of innovative leadership needed in healthcare.  Baird Capital looks forward to supporting Oncology Analytics to accelerate its mission."

"Oak HC/FT continues to be a strong advocate of the leadership team, strategy, and passion Oncology Analytics has for improving the lives of cancer patients," said Annie Lamont, managing partner, Oak HC/FT. "Over the past two years, Oncology Analytics has grown its customer portfolio by 400% and rapidly increased revenue. We are deeply committed to our partnership with Oncology Analytics and welcome Baird Capital to the team."

"It is incredibly humbling to have such a talented and experienced group of healthcare investors support our efforts to transform the oncology benefits landscape," said Rick Dean, CEO, Oncology Analytics. "We are delighted to welcome Michael and Baird Capital to the team, as I know this collaboration will accelerate our ability to bring value and innovation to our health plan customers." 

Over the past decade, the oncology landscape has undergone dramatic changes, through an unprecedented number of new anti-cancer treatments brought to market, which have increased both the complexity and cost of care. By forging a deep connection between data science, analytics, and oncology expertise, Oncology Analytics provides health plans with extensive clinical insights to ensure that anti-cancer therapies are based on science and evidence-based protocols.  Health plans are able to manage the total cost of cancer care while providing their members with treatment recommendations, which put them in the position to achieve the best possible outcome. 

"Our health plan partners have told us that they need solutions that enable efficiency for their providers and themselves," Thomas Hawes, MD, managing director, The Blue Venture Fund.  "Oncology Analytics removes a huge administrative burden on providers by enabling 100% of providers to submit their oncology prior authorization requests electronically through secure, cloud-based technology and receive instant approvals on evidence-based prescribing. We are proud to continue our support of the team as they continue to provide measurable value to health plans."

"McKesson Ventures is very impressed with the success Oncology Analytics has achieved since our initial investment, specifically, their ability to expand market share and increase the scale and depth of their technology," said Dave Schulte, managing director, McKesson Ventures. 

Oncology Analytics' Series C announcement comes during a period of tremendous growth and innovation for the company, which includes the increase of its prior authorization platform usage to 5 million health plan members.  Oncology Analytics also recently announced a new customer partnership with Gateway Health, LLC, and program expansion with Humana, Inc.