Ilant Health, an obesity care company for employers and health plans, announced Tuesday that it secured $15 million in Series A funding.
New York City-based Ilant Health is a value-based care company serving employers and payers across all 50 states. The company identifies members and employees who would benefit from obesity treatment and matches those patients to the care that is best for them (taking into account medical, behavioral and social factors). Its treatment options include intensive behavioral therapy, pharmacotherapy (including GLP-1s and non-GLP-1s) and bariatric surgery. Patients also receive virtual access to obesity medicine physicians, mental health practitioners, nutritionists and peer navigators.
The Series A round was led by Cornucopian Capital, with participation from naturalX, Peakbridge, Semcap AI, Evidenced, Operator Partners, Celtic, LifeX and AlphaLab. In total, Ilant Health has raised more than $22 million.
The financing will help Ilant Health accelerate its growth and invest in its precision-based obesity and cardiometabolic care, according to Elina Onitskansky, founder and CEO of Ilant.
“We’re expanding our ability to deliver care to more employers and members and increasing our engagement with health plans while deepening the technology that helps us match each individual to the treatment path most likely to improve outcomes,” she said. “Over the next several years, obesity treatment options will expand dramatically, with new medications, procedures and evidence-based interventions entering the market. Our goal is to stay ahead of that complexity by building increasingly sophisticated precision medicine capabilities that help identify the right treatment for the right person at the right time.”
The funding comes as employers and health plans are rethinking their approach to obesity care amid rapidly rising healthcare costs, Onitskansky added.
“A few years ago, the conversation was largely about access to GLP-1 medications. Today, buyers are much more sophisticated,” she stated. “They’re asking harder questions about outcomes, long-term health impact, total cost of care and how obesity intersects with conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, musculoskeletal disorders and mental health.”
Ilant has received some results as well. Its members achieve a 15% weight loss on average, compared to 5.8% reported in routine clinical practice, according to the announcement.
The company has also recently launched direct contracting and transparent pricing solutions for obesity management prescriptions through Eli Lilly’s Employer Connect program. The program provides tailored coverage options for obesity care in partnership with over 15 digital health companies.
Ultimately, Ilant hopes to “transform” cardiometabolic health in the U.S., Onitskansky said.
“We want to push the industry beyond treating obesity as a single condition and toward a more individualized approach that recognizes the biological, behavioral and social factors that influence health,” she said. “As we see more indications for GLPs, more treatments, and continued growing awareness, this ability to personalize care to truly the individual level and use a precision approach to deliver the best care possible for each individual will become even more important.”
Other companies that provide obesity care include Found and Noom.
Photo: TAW4, Getty Images
