H1, a healthcare data analytics platform that provides data on more than 10 million healthcare workers to the pharmaceutical industry, has acquired Ribbon, a startup that helps patients find doctors with insurance support.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2016 and a Y Combinator alum, Ribbon last raised funding in 2021, closing a $43.5 million Series B at a valuation of $283.5 million, according to PitchBook data. It amounted to 1 million dollars.
Many startups that haven't secured funding in more than three years are facing increasing pressure, with many becoming acquisition targets or facing imminent closure. However, H1 co-founder and CEO Arial Katz told TechCrunch that Ribbon is “not a distressed company.” H1 paid a combination of stock and cash to acquire Ribbon, and Ribbon will earn “well over tens of millions of dollars in proceeds,” he added.
Ribbon has raised a total of $55 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, and Rock Health.
H1, on the other hand, raised about $200 million and was valued at about $773 million in 2022. Pitchbook says it has also raised an undisclosed amount in 2024.
H1 has been looking to integrate with Ribbon for years, Katz told TechCrunch. He said the two companies collect similar information but serve different customer groups.
“I've been trying to acquire Ribbon for three years,” Katz said, adding that there are a lot of synergies because the two companies collect similar data.
Ribbon serves patients by providing details about a physician's expertise, cost, and quality. Ribbon data is purchased by healthcare navigation companies such as Transcarent and Rightway and made available to patients through health plan sites. H1, on the other hand, tends to work with pharmaceutical companies and other healthcare-related companies to provide data and other insights that are useful in things like setting up and conducting clinical trials.
While Ribbon likely wasn't a fire sale, we expect to see many startups struggle with follow-on funding and reach the end of their runway this year. Unless it shuts down completely, it's likely to become an acquisition target.