For the tens of millions of Americans managing diabetes, obesity, or hypertension, the standard of care is often a fragmented, frustrating loop. It involves separate appointments with a primary care physician, an endocrinologist, and perhaps a nutritionist, alongside trips to a lab for blood draws and a pharmacy for medications. The administrative burden alone can derail consistent management. 9amHealth, a virtual specialty-care company founded in 2021, is betting that a unified, digital-first clinic can untangle this knot for patients and the employers who pay for their care [TechCrunch, September 2021].
A founding team with lived experience
The company's credibility begins with its founders. Co-CEOs Frank Westermann and Anton Kittelberger both live with type 1 diabetes, and they previously built and sold mySugr, a popular diabetes management app, to Roche [Fierce Healthcare, April 2022]. This isn't a theoretical exercise for them; it's personal. They are joined by co-founders Paul Geevarghese, a pharmacist who serves as COO, and Bernhard Schandl as CTO. This combination of lived patient experience, prior entrepreneurial success in the exact category, and operational expertise is rare in digital health. It suggests a team that understands not just the clinical pathways but the daily friction points that cause patients to disengage.
The wedge: from diabetes to full cardiometabolic care
9amHealth launched as a direct-to-consumer virtual diabetes clinic, a logical entry point given the founders' backgrounds [TechCrunch, September 2021]. Its model combined virtual visits with clinicians and coaches, medication support, at-home lab testing, and digital tracking tools. The strategic pivot, evidenced by its recent $26 million Series B, was to expand into a comprehensive cardiometabolic platform. The company now explicitly targets the suite of interconnected conditions,diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and high cholesterol,that collectively drive the majority of employer pharmacy spend [PRNewswire, May 2026].
This expansion is more than adding new diagnostic codes. It reflects a understanding of the market. Employers and health plans are desperate for solutions that manage the total cost of these high-prevalence, high-cost chronic diseases, not just individual symptoms. By offering a single platform for all cardiometabolic care, 9amHealth aims to become a strategic partner for benefits managers, not just a point solution.
Traction through strategic partnerships
The most compelling signal of 9amHealth's market position isn't a revenue figure, but its partner roster. The company has secured relationships with two of the most significant players in the metabolic health pharmaceutical space.
- LillyDirect. 9amHealth is the named provider partner for diabetes care on Eli Lilly's direct-to-consumer telehealth platform, LillyDirect [SDBJ, February 2024]. This places its services in front of patients seeking GLP-1 medications and other diabetes treatments directly from the manufacturer.
- Novo Nordisk. In August 2025, the company announced a partnership with Novo Nordisk to expand access to obesity care across the United States [9amHealth, August 2025]. Given the overwhelming demand and supply constraints for obesity medications, a formal partnership with a leading drugmaker is a significant channel.
These are not mere vendor agreements. They are endorsements from the pharmaceutical giants whose drugs are central to modern cardiometabolic treatment. For an employer or health plan evaluating vendors, these partnerships de-risk the choice of 9amHealth, assuring them of integrated medication access and clinical alignment.
The company also offers at-home lab testing through BioReference Laboratories and has mentioned leveraging Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company to source affordable medications, rounding out its supply-side infrastructure [Business Insider, February 2024]. Its business model is primarily B2B2C, selling to employers, health plans, and pharmacy benefit managers, while maintaining a direct-to-consumer subscription option reported at $69 per month [Forbes, November 2023].
| Round | Date | Amount | Lead Investor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | Sep 2021 | $3.7M | Founders Fund, Define Ventures, Speedinvest, iSeed Ventures [TechCrunch, September 2021] |
| Series A | Apr 2022 | $16M | 7Wire Ventures, Human Capital [PRNewswire, April 2022] |
| Series A Extension | Feb 2024 | $9.5M | The Cigna Group Ventures [PRNewswire, February 2024] |
| Series B | May 2026 | $26M | Define Ventures [PRNewswire, May 2026] |
With the recent Series B led by Define Ventures, 9amHealth's total disclosed funding reached $55.6 million [PRNewswire, May 2026]. The investor list includes strategic corporate ventures like The Cigna Group Ventures and Leaps by Bayer, alongside established digital health funds like 7Wire Ventures, signaling confidence from both financial and industry insiders.
Navigating a crowded and challenging field
The virtual chronic care management space is densely populated. 9amHealth competes with established players like Omada Health and Virta Health in diabetes, Teladoc in broad telehealth, and a wave of digital weight management companies like Noom and Calibrate. The risks here are not about concept viability but execution and differentiation.
- Clinical proof. While the company talks about AI-enabled workflows and personalized experiences, the public record lacks large-scale, peer-reviewed outcome studies demonstrating its model improves key biomarkers (like A1c or blood pressure) or reduces total cost of care better than alternatives. In a field moving toward value-based contracts, this evidence is currency.
- Scalability of care. Delivering high-touch, specialized clinical care is inherently human-intensive. Scaling this while maintaining quality and managing unit economics is the fundamental operational challenge for every virtual clinic.
- Market noise. Employers are inundated with point solutions. 9amHealth's bet on being a consolidated cardiometabolic platform is a direct answer to this, but it requires convincing benefits managers to consolidate spend with a single, newer vendor.
The company's most plausible answer to these risks is its foundational expertise and pharmaceutical alliances. The mySugr pedigree provides a track record of building engaging patient-facing software. The LillyDirect and Novo Nordisk partnerships are powerful distribution and validation levers that most competitors cannot claim.
The standard of care, and what comes next
The patient population here is vast: adults in the United States managing type 1 or type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, or hyperlipidemia. For them, the current standard of care is a disjointed system. It often means waiting weeks for a specialist appointment, navigating complex medication prior authorizations, and manually piecing together advice from different providers. Adherence suffers, conditions progress, and costs spiral.
9amHealth is attempting to rewrite that script into a continuous, coordinated care relationship managed from a smartphone. The next twelve months will be critical for proving this model at scale. Key milestones to watch include the announcement of major employer or health plan customers won through its new cardiometabolic platform, any data publications on clinical outcomes, and further expansion of its pharmaceutical partnerships. The recent funding provides the runway; now the clinical and commercial execution must follow.
Sources
- [TechCrunch, September 2021] 9am.health launches with $3.7M to tackle virtual diabetes care | https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/20/9am-health-launches-with-3-7m-to-tackle-virtual-diabetes-care/
- [Fierce Healthcare, April 2022] Tullman’s firm banks on virtual diabetes clinic 9am.health with $16M series A | https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/tullmans-firm-banks-virtual-diabetes-clinic-9amhealth-16m-series
- [PRNewswire, May 2026] 9amHealth raises $26M to expand into chronic conditions driving the majority of employer pharmacy spend | https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/9amhealth-raises-26m-to-expand-into-chronic-conditions-driving-the-majority-of-employer-pharmacy-spend-302769972.html
- [SDBJ, February 2024] 9amHealth Secures $9.5M in New Funds | https://www.sdbj.com/healthcare-2/9amhealth-secures-9-5m-in-new-funds/
- [9amHealth, August 2025] 9amHealth and Novo Nordisk Partner to Expand Access to Obesity Care | https://join9am.com/hubfs/Press%20Releases/082725-9amHealth-NovoNordisk-Press%20Release.pdf
- [Business Insider, February 2024] 9amHealth offers affordable, convenient at-home laboratory testing through BioReference Laboratories | https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/9am-health-offers-affordable-convenient-at-home-laboratory-testing-through-bioreference-laboratories-1031269869
- [Forbes, November 2023] 9amHealth Executives Talk Their Mission, Telemedicine, Medicare & More In Interview | https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenaquino/2023/11/29/9am-health-executives-talk-their-mission-telemedicine-medicare-more-in-interview/
- [PRNewswire, April 2022] 9amHealth raises 16 million Series A to build a comprehensive virtual diabetes destination nationwide | https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/9amhealth-raises-16-million-series-a-to-build-a-comprehensive-virtual-diabetes-destination-nationwide-301524401.html
- [PRNewswire, February 2024] 9amHealth Raises $9.5M Series A Extension | https://join9am.com/hubfs/Press%20Releases/(9amHealth)%20022024-%20Press%20Release%209amHealth%20Raises%20$9.5M%20Series%20A%20Extension.pdf