As COVID-19 vaccination looms, Carbon Health also plans to open 100 “pop-up” clinics.

Carbon Health,  the high technology healthcare company that provides both virtual and in-clinic care to patients, announced Tuesday its raise of $100 million. The Series C funding round was led by Dragoneer Investment Group. It also saw participation by existing backers Brookfield Technology Partners, DCVC, and Builders VC.

The “Starbucks of healthcare”

Based in San Francisco, Carbon Health is a startup that offers its care services through an “omnichannel” route. That means the method most convenient to the patient.

Its model, therefore, caters to patients at its “inviting” physical clinics, as well as via telemedicine from its AI-driven technology platform.

It also seeks to bring down the cost of clinics in economically weaker locations by having a physical clinic where nurses would perform activities such as diagnostics and screenings. However, several such clinics would be virtually overseen by a qualified doctor.

According to the San Francisco Business Times, the startup’s CEO and co-founder Eren Bali has a vision for the company to become the “Starbucks of healthcare.”

The current funding certainly takes him closer to that goal. Over the past 12 months, Carbon Health’s footprint has grown from a mere seven clinics to 27 in six different states.

It has also boosted its workforce 8X from 100 to 800, even while using AI to automate many administrative activities.

The current round brings the startup’s total funding to $175 million.

“We are looking for a very, very aggressive growth trajectory, particularly focusing on accessibility,” said Bali to Bloomberg.

In a statement, he said the pandemic had laid bare the weaknesses and disparities in the healthcare system.

“A striking one in five counties in the United States is a healthcare desert.”

Mobility (pop-up) clinics

Carbon Health has also partnered with REEF Technology, a company that is repurposing underutilized infrastructure such as parking lots into neighborhood hubs that provide a variety of services.

Carbon Health is deploying mobile trailers that look akin to shipping containers at these locations. These clinics provide much-needed medical services as well as give the local economy a fillip.

Many of these mobile clinics are already functioning as COVID testing centers.

Meanwhile, there was good news from Pfizer (NUSE: PFE) on a COVID vaccine that is 90% effective. These centers could also, therefore, pivot to become vaccination centers.

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