98point6, which helps facilitate virtual primary care appointments using AI-powered chatbots, texts, and digital images, raises $118M Series E
Taylor Soper / GeekWire :
Context & Ripple Effects
98point6 has now nearly doubled its disclosed fundraising since its $50M Series C led by Goldman Sachs in late 2018, with this $118M Series E landing mid-pandemic when demand for remote care was surging. The round keeps it in step with its closest rival: K Health raised $48M earlier in 2020 and would go on to a $132M Series E months later.
The strategic backdrop is consolidation — Accolade's agreement to buy virtual primary care provider PlushCare for up to $450M showed that benefits-management platforms are willing to acquire rather than build, giving funded startups like 98point6 both an exit path and a competitive threat.
First-order effects
- 98point6 gains fresh capital to scale its chatbot-and-text primary care model across more patients and employer clients at a moment when virtual visits are displacing in-clinic appointments.
Second-order effects
- K Health, already operating in 47 states with a comparable AI-chat model, faces pressure to keep pace on fundraising and distribution as 98point6's war chest grows.
- Benefits platforms like Accolade — which chose to buy PlushCare rather than partner — now weigh whether to acquire chat-first providers or compete against them for employer contracts.
Third-order effects
- If chatbot-triage-plus-physician models keep attracting nine-figure rounds, primary care delivery structurally shifts from clinic networks to software platforms owned by insurers, benefits managers, or venture-backed startups — with M&A of the PlushCare kind determining who controls the patient relationship.
The trend: Virtual primary care is consolidating around well-funded AI-first platforms, with employer benefits channels becoming the decisive battleground for distribution.