Aledade, a national network of independent primary care practices, secured $260 million in Series F funding, which it will use to further grow its network and improve its technology, the company recently announced.

The Bethesda, Maryland-based company is a public benefit corporation that helps independent practices, health centers and clinics engage in value-based care. It works with 1,500 practices across 45 states and the District of Columbia, and has more than 150 value-based contracts that cover more than two million patients. The company has supported more than one million patients through the Medicare Shared Savings Program and almost 250,000 patients through Medicare Advantage contracts.

The $260 million financing round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, a new investor of the company. It also included participation from Venrock, Avidity Partners, OMERS Growth Equity and Fidelity Management and Research Company.

Lightspeed Venture Partners chose to invest in Aledade because of its work in supporting the shift to value-based care, said Dr. Galym Imanbayev, partner at the firm.

“Aledade unlocks the unique power of independent primary care practices and health centers to improve health outcomes for patients and eliminate wasteful downstream costs — all while doing so at scale with tremendous growth ahead,” Imanbayev said in a news release.

With the funding, Aledade plans to continue growing its primary care network, as well as engage in more strategic alliances with national and regional health plans. In addition to growing its network and partnerships, Aledade will also use the financing to improve its technology and services it offers partner practices, said Dr. Farzad Mostashari, CEO and co-founder of Aledade, in an email.

When asked what Aledade’s exit strategy is, Mostashari responded that, “Right now, we are focused on continuing to support our partner practices and growing the number of practices in our national network. Every decision we make as a company, including future liquidity events, is made with that mission at the center. It’s why we became a public benefit corporation earlier this year.”

The fundraising news follows a series of announcements from Aledade. 

In March, the company announced a 10-year collaboration with Humana, which gives the insurers’ Medicare Advantage members access to primary care services from Aledade through value-based arrangements. Shortly after, Aledade launched another strategic alliance with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. Through this alliance, the insurers’ in-network practices have access to support from Aledade’s specialists to help them improve their value-based care, such as on-site coaching and regulatory and policy expertise. Aledade also acquired value-based care analytics company Curia in February.

To date, the primary care company has saved the healthcare system more than $1.7 billion, Mostashari claimed.

Other primary care networks include Agilon and Oak Street Health, the latter of which was just acquired by CVS Health.

Picture: Feodora Chiosea, Getty Images