98point6, a Seattle-based startup developing a virtual primary care service delivered via its app and website, raises $50M Series C led by Goldman Sachs
Clare McGrane / GeekWire :
Context & Ripple Effects
In late 2018, 98point6 was still an early-stage bet that primary care could be delivered through an app — text, images, and chatbot triage instead of waiting rooms. The $50M Series C put Goldman Sachs on the cap table as lead, a notable vote from a bank better known for financing than health care operations.
The arc since then validates the thesis and shows how fast the category moved: 98point6 went on to raise a much larger $118M Series E two years later, while rivals like K Health scaled parallel AI-chat models and Accolade moved to consolidate the space by buying PlushCare outright.
First-order effects
- Goldman Sachs gains direct exposure to consumer virtual care as lead investor, and 98point6 gets the capital to expand its text-and-image-based primary care beyond its Seattle base.
Second-order effects
- Rival app-based providers are forced to match the funding pace — K Health raised its own Series C months later on a nearly identical chat-with-a-doctor model, turning capital raising itself into competitive positioning.
- Employer benefits platforms respond by buying rather than building: Accolade's acquisition of PlushCare signals that distribution through HR channels, not standalone apps, becomes the contested layer.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, standalone virtual primary care apps get absorbed into employer benefits and hospital-system channels — the eVisit round, also led by Goldman, points to SaaS-for-health-systems emerging alongside consumer apps as the durable business models.
- AI-powered triage shifts from differentiator to table stakes, pushing competition toward who owns the patient relationship downstream rather than who automates intake.
The trend: Virtual primary care is consolidating from independent consumer apps into employer- and system-embedded platforms, with financial institutions like Goldman Sachs acting as repeat financiers across both layers.