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Virtual health care company Thirty Madison bought over 100,000 patient files from bankrupt birth control startup The Pill Club for $32.3 million, the company confirmed to Erin Tuesday. 

Why it matters: This could provide continued care to patients of The Pill Club, which filed for Chapter 11 protection in April after being accused by California authorities of defrauding the state Medicaid program.

Plus: Tuesday's Pro Rata, on favorable return expectations among LPs.

1. Thirty Madison buys Pill Club assets

Illustration of a contraceptive pill packet shaped like a briefcase. 

After a near three-year run that sources say graduated roughly 100 health companies, Optum's health care startup incubator is now on ice, Erin learned Monday.

Driving the news: "Optum Startup Studio ended up dissolving recently due to an org change within Optum," says Liz Selvig, a former entrepreneur-in-residence mentor who worked for the program from 2022 until the beginning of the year.

Plus: Monday's Pro Rata, on the U.K.'s burgeoning crypto future.

 2. Optum Startup Studio said to be on ice

Illustration of a pair of scissors about to cut a manila folder with a red cross on it.

Virtual-first wound care was not the most popular idea when Nima Ahmadi, CEO of the Wound Company, first started talking about it with friends.

Why it matters: Ahmadi's Minneapolis-based company raised $4.25 million in seed funding, he told Erin exclusively Thursday.

Plus: Thursday's Pro Rata, on the restaurant chain Cava raising $318 million in its long-awaited IPO

3. Virtual-first wound care

Illustration of a bandaid shaped like a dollar on a person's shoulder

After declining for four straight quarters, digital health funding stayed steady at $3.4 billion in Q1, per a CBInsights report.

Why it matters: The sector funding defied the decline seen across the broader venture environment but remains at the lowest level in years, Aaron wrote Wednesday.

Plus: Wednesday's Pro Rata, on Vodafone's British merger.

4. Digital health funding steady for first time in a year

A computer keyboard and mouse attached to a medical case.

Data: Health Affairs; Chart: Alice Feng/Axios

A surge of Medicare spending on hospitals and other services later this decade will help U.S. health care expenditures outpace inflation and top $7.2 trillion by 2031, federal actuaries said on Wednesday.

Why it matters: The new projections show medical spending across all categories rebounding from the pandemic doldrums, with hospitals being the biggest cost-driver. That will likely make health care become a larger part of household spending.

5. Medicare surge to drive health care spending past $7 trillion

Programming note: The newsletter will be dark Juneteenth, so enjoy the long weekend and we'll be back on Tuesday. 

🧡 Thanks for reading, and extra thanks to copy editor Nick Aspinwall. Please ask your colleagues, friends and family to sign up.

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June 16, 2023

1. Thirty Madison buys Pill Club assets