Harbor Health, an Austin, Texas-based primary and specialty care clinic group and health insurance company, has acquired dementia care platform Rippl.
Rippl’s dementia care platform is built to help seniors living with dementia remain at home and out of the emergency department, hospital, and post-acute settings.
The acquisition advances Harbor Health’s strategy to expand its condition-focused care pathways and strengthen the company’s integrated model, which combines expertise in chronic condition management and access to coordinated, affordable health insurance.
Harbor stresses that offering care and coverage combined allows providers to take better care of people through every step of the health journey, better aligning insurance benefits with the right care.
As part of the deal for an undisclosed sum, Rippl’s investors are making a new commitment to the combined company. Key investors include Kin Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, General Catalyst, GV (Google Ventures), F-Prime Capital, JSL Health, and Mass General Brigham Ventures.
Harbor Health was co-founded by Clay Johnston, Ph.D., M.D., M.P.H., who previously served as the inaugural dean of the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School. In a December 2024 interview with Healthcare Innovation, Johnston described his ambitious goals:
“What we're trying to do is create the whole operating system. Currently, everything works on fee for service, and there's the RVU system that kind of drives clinician behavior, and there are copays, coinsurance, deductibles,” he said. “What we're trying to do is rebuild all of that stuff to change the underlying incentive structures and operating system so that it then can become more easily exportable.”
In October 2024, Healthcare Innovation interviewed Rippl Co-founder and CEO Kris Engskov about the opportunity for value-based models in dementia care. At the time, the Seattle-based company had recently raised $23 million in Series A capital to fund its multi-state expansion.
A former Starbucks executive, Engskov discussed Rippl’s founding and participation in the CMS Innovation Center Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model, which has 390 participating organizations building dementia care programs to serve hundreds of thousands of people with Medicare nationwide.
“We’ve always understood expert dementia care works best when it’s deeply integrated with primary care, and we’re excited to see Harbor Health scale this platform as part of its broader effort to deliver condition-focused care and better outcomes while dramatically reducing unnecessary costs,” Engskov said in a statement.
The acquisition also expands Harbor Health’s services into the Florida market. Following its 2025 acquisition of 32 VillageMD clinics, Harbor Health said it continues to expand its evidence-based care pathways. The dementia care program will be available to people receiving care at Harbor Health and VillageMD locations in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, and El Paso. In addition, Rippl services will continue to be provided to Medicare Advantage members as well as seniors covered by traditional Medicare through CMS’ GUIDE program.
“Integrating Rippl’s dementia platform into our expanding library of condition-focused care pathways gives our health teams another powerful tool to manage complex health needs,” said Tony Miller, Harbor Health co-founder and CEO, in a statement. “As our health plan membership grows rapidly, these pathways are essential for keeping coverage more affordable and taking better care of people. That’s our priority.”
