Axios Pro Exclusive Content

Exclusive: Brex alums debut Opkit, insurance tools for telehealth

Illustration of a health plus-shaped price tag with dollar signs printed on it.

Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios

Two early Brex engineers launched Opkit, an insurance verification platform for telehealth companies, and closed a seed round, CEO Sherwood Callaway tells Axios exclusively.

Why it matters: As digital health booms, infrastructure building startups are tackling health care's outdated administrative issues from a variety of angles.

Details: The New York-based startup collected $1 million in seed funding from Global Founders Capital, Mischief, Socially Financed, Y Combinator and former Andreessen Horowitz partner Rex Salisbury, Callaway says.

  • The company will use the funds to hire engineers and other staff. He declined to say when the company plans to raise a Series A.

How it works: Opkit's automated web portal helps virtual care practices verify and gather details on patients' insurance coverage including determining whether a plan is active, in- or out-of-network, and whether it includes copays or deductibles.

  • The company charges users a monthly fee on an annual contract basis and offers tiered usage rates based on the number of eligibility checks and the number of users with access.
  • The full Opkit process — from uploading insurance cards to verifying eligibility requirements — takes roughly 5-10 minutes, he says.

Context: The company is currently piloting its offering with two growth-stage telehealth companies, per Callaway.

What they're saying: "Many of the providers we serve didn’t exist several years ago," says Callaway. "The tooling needs to catch up."

State of play: Opkit and other infrastructure building startups offer services ranging from streamlining treatment approvals to handling bookkeeping and payroll tasks to helping organizations build custom health plans.

Go deeper
Axios Pro

This article is currently free.