Roseville-based telehealth company TeleMed2U has acquired Specialty Clinic of Austin, a Texas-based behavioral health group.
TeleMed2U has about 100 employees, including contractors and participating physicians, and Specialty Clinic has about 30, said Lokesh Sikaria, managing partner of Folsom-based venture capital firm Moneta Ventures LLC, which is an investor in TeleMed2U. The price of the acquisition was not disclosed, but Sikaria said it was a mix of cash and equity.
The purchase beefs up TeleMed2U’s behavioral health offerings in a time when they are in demand, Sikaria said. “We had some of it on our own, but this really enhances it more.”
The stresses associated with Covid-19 health and economic uncertainties dragging on for the past eight months — and the potential for them to last until next summer — are pushing an increase in the need for behavioral health support, Sikaria said. “This is the appropriate time to do this with what is becoming a bigger crisis over time.”
Specialty Clinic is an outpatient clinic founded in 2013 that diagnoses and treats psychiatric health issues including attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, depression, bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
TeleMed2U, founded in 2011, works with a network of board certified specialists and covers 23 fields with telemedicine technology that includes audio and visual remote meetings.
“The importance of behavioral health quite possibly has never been greater than now as individuals and communities everywhere continue to unravel from the profound challenges never before experienced in modern times — from the pandemic to quarantining and economic to sociopolitical issues — take your pick,” said Dr. Charles Sweet, co-founder of Specialty Clinic, in a news release.
TeleMed2U will integrate its telemedicine platform with Specialty Clinic’s physician and therapist operations for direct care and also with telemedicine-based services to primary care providers, hospitals and health plans.
“Telemedicine companies have seen record-breaking funding this year as investors began doubling down in this space since the start of the Covid-19 crisis,” said AJ Patel, CEO of TeleMed2U, in a news release.
Patel said the demand for behavioral health treatment has outstripped supply this year, and telemedicine technology can help offer more people support.
