Babylon acquires Higi
Babylon has completed its acquisition of Higi, a consumer health engagement company.
The company noted that combining Babylon’s highly-scalable technology platform with Higi’s remote monitoring capabilities -- via its Smart Health Stations "conveniently located within 5 miles of 73% of the U.S. population, at-home connected devices, and 50-state clinical network -- will help Babylon in its mission of reengineering every touch point in the healthcare continuum. The combined company will provide a more holistic, end-to-end solution to meet the needs of payers, providers and retailers on the front lines of care delivery."
As remote patient monitoring continues to grow in necessity over the course of the pandemic, this acquisition will allow Babylon to extend its highly scalable technology platform and digital-first healthcare solutions to millions of existing Higi customers, some of whom live in areas where access to healthcare has been previously out of reach.
[Read more: Higi stations now offering heart health risk testing]
The company said that this will be an especially valuable integration for consumers managing chronic conditions in rural communities. With over half (51%) of U.S. adults living with a chronic condition, having accessible health monitoring tools is vital. In 2021 alone, the Higi network hosted 11 million sessions where consumers engaged with their various remote monitoring platforms to check in with or better understand their health.
“Our mission is to make quality healthcare accessible and affordable for every person, irrespective of the lottery of the geographic location, economic status or social hierarchy in which they find themselves, ” said Ali Parsa, CEO of Babylon. “ Our partnership with Higi will help us extend the range and reach of our services across the United States. We have known Higi’s executives, board and investors for a long time and share common values with them. I am humbled that they will now all become shareholders of Babylon and part of our joint mission to reengineer a better model of care for all. ”
[Read more: Higi rolls out ADA-powered risk assessment to its health stations]
“Our commitment has always been to make it easy and convenient for everyone to be their healthiest,” said Jeff Bennett, CEO of Higi. “Higi has partnered with healthcare leaders across retailers, health plans, providers and NGOs to meet consumers where they are in their healthcare journey and provide equitable access to insights and navigation to products and services to improve their health. As one company, we will deliver so much more, and alongside Babylon, we are excited to continue our work to bring affordable, accessible healthcare to all.”
“Higi’s self-service, digital engagement platform will extend the reach and impact of Babylon’s virtual care platform, meeting people where they are, and increasing access to care for hard-to-reach populations,” said Glen Tullman, CEO of Transcarent and Managing Partner, 7wireVentures. “In addition, Babylon’s innovative value and risk sharing models fit well with market leaders and innovators, including Transcarent, because they believe that, with the appropriate use of technology, data science, and good old-fashioned clinical care, you can impact the member satisfaction and quality of care, while, at the same time, reducing costs. This is the formula everyone has been searching for and the combination of Higi and Babylon bring us all one step closer.”
“As a strategic investor through Flare and member of the Higi board, I’ve enjoyed a front row seat to the evolution of the company, “ said Michael Greeley, co-founder and general partner at Flare Capital Partners. “Higi’s community-based health engagement platform that meets people where they live, work and shop is a natural extension of Babylon’s digital-first care delivery ecosystem that combined, will connect people to care where, when and how they want it, keeping consumers away from more expensive care settings and prioritizing retail healthcare resources as a new entry point to care.”
This acquisition follows Babylon’s initial strategic investment in Higi in early 2020, which led the company’s Series B funding round.