Google Backed Telehealth Company, Amwell Outlines Details of its Upcoming IPO

Telemedicine or virtual care facilitates access to healthcare to patients, forgoing the need to visit hospitals. As the pandemic’s arrival, telehealth usage rates have skyrocketed with many physicians adopting the technology for taking care of their patients. All of this has been made possible by the advances in telecommunications technology and remote monitoring capabilities developed by technology companies.

By Ruchi Jhonsa, Ph.D.

One of these companies, Amwell, founded in 2006 is known for delivering virtual urgent care, pediatrics, telestroke, population health management, telepsychiatry, and chronic disease management services through its proprietary Amwell Platform. With a vast experience, Amwell supplies telehealth solutions to over 2000 hospitals and 55 plan partners that cover about 80 million people in total.

The company raised $365 million in series B funding in 2018 followed by $194 million in Series C funding this year. However, the company’s stake went higher when Google announced a $100 million investment in Amwell. Google’s monetary and technical support will help build Amwell’s virtual technology and expand its health sector footprint.

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Backed by the technology giant Google, the company decided to go public on August 24th. The details of which were not disclosed until September 8th when the company outlined the terms of its upcoming IPO. The company offers 35 million shares of its Class A common stock to the public for $14 to $16 a share. The company will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “AMWL.” Amwell will earn gross proceedings of $490 million to $560 million, which it plans to utilize to boost research and development and expand its sales team.

Even though Amwell has set its footprint in the market, it still faces strong competition from Livongo and Teladoc, two companies that recently merged in an $18.5 billion deal. Teladoc, currently has a base of 70 million customers in the US alone alongside access to data from Medicare and Medicaid. This will give Livongo a much better opportunity to help millions of customers in Teladoc’s database facing chronic illness. However, with blessings from Google and its large customer base, Amwell has an advantage over its competitors.

Related article: Google to Acquire Wearable Device Pioneer to Boost Healthcare Plans

Reference:

1. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/amwell-announces-launch-of-initial-
public-offering-301125931.html

Author

Ruchi Jhonsa