Ascension Ventures Invests in Virtual Care Vendor Zipnosis

Ascension Ventures, a subsidiary of Ascension, the nation’s largest non-profit and Catholic health system based in St. Louis, has become a leading investor in health IT company Zipnosis.

Minneapolis-based Zipnosis announced that it has raised $17 million Series A financing, led by Safeguard Scientifics, Inc., and will use proceeds from the investment to expand it sales and marketing and accelerate new product development.

Ascension Ventures launched in 2001 and its limited partners include Ascension, Catholic Health Initiatives, Decatur Memorial Hospital, Dignity Health, Intermountain Healthcare, Mercy and Trinity Health.

Zipnosis offers a virtual care platform that enables health systems to launch their own branded virtual care service line staffed with their own clinicians. According to the company, its asynchronous platform mimics an in-person interaction between clinician and patient, gathers information for diagnosis and provides clinicians with appropriate treatment options.

Currently, Zipnosis offers virtual care for more than 90 conditions and is expanding into chronic care conditions. In addition, Zipnosis currently works with approximately 17 health system customers including Fairview Health Services, University of Alabama-Birmingham, Group Health, and John Muir Health.