Plume scoops up $24M for virtual transgender healthcare

Plume, a startup focused on virtual care for transgender patients, raised $24 million in Series B funding.

The round was led by Transformation Capital, with participation from General Catalyst and Town Hall Ventures. The investment comes about a year and half after the company announced a $14 million Series A. 

WHAT IT DOES

Plume offers digital gender-affirming care, including prescriptions to hormone therapy like estrogen or testosterone, video consultations with providers, lab orders and analysis, support groups and medical letters of support for surgery or name and gender marker changes. In most states, the startup’s membership costs $99 a month.

Plume plans to use the capital from the Series B to expand nationwide, move into virtual primary care and add insurance coverage for the company’s services. 

“With today’s announcement, we are on track to reach our goal of increasing access to high-quality, gender-affirming care to patients across the U.S. in both urban areas and coverage deserts,” Dr. Jerrica Kirkley, Plume cofounder and chief medical officer, said in a statement.

“Knowing the hurdles trans Americans face when accessing care, I’m encouraged to reach this benchmark and I look forward to Plume’s growth in the future. I want to thank Transformation Capital, General Catalyst, and Town Hall Ventures for their partnership in transforming health care for every trans life.”

MARKET SNAPSHOT

Another digital health company working with LGBTQIA+ patients is Folx Health, which announced a $25 million Series A raise in February 2021. Folx recently launched an employer offering and added counseling, evaluation and referrals for Monkeypox treatment.

Last year, the recently merged virtual care companies Grand Rounds Health and Doctor On Demand acquired Included Health, a health concierge platform for the LGBTQIA+ community. The company later rebranded under the Included name. 

Like a number of other digital health and health tech companies pursuing layoffs this summer, Included recently reduced its workforce by less than 6% as part of a company restructuring.