Strategic moves aim to position the company as a major force in the market working to improve health outcomes through innovative engagement capabilities

mPulse Mobile, a leader in conversational AI and digital engagement solutions for the healthcare industry, announced its acquisition of HealthCrowd, a leading communications platform-as-a-service innovator focused primarily on the Medicaid market. Also today, mPulse announced a growth investment from PSG, a leading growth equity firm partnering with middle-market software and technology-enabled services companies.

The acquisition comes at a time when healthcare organizations need innovative solutions to engage consumers as the pandemic spurs a dramatic adoption of virtual health. Health plans and providers are adapting to a significant shift towards consumer experience as a measure of performance. By joining two innovative organizations with deep expertise in delivering personalized digital health experiences, the combined company has unmatched health engagement capabilities across a number of measurements to transform how healthcare organizations improve both outcomes and the consumer experience through digital touchpoints.

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“HealthCrowd has proven they can deliver effective engagement solutions to hard-to-reach individuals and communities with significant social determinants of health (SDoH) influences who have been most impacted by the pandemic”

“HealthCrowd has proven they can deliver effective engagement solutions to hard-to-reach individuals and communities with significant social determinants of health (SDoH) influences who have been most impacted by the pandemic,” said Chris Nicholson, CEO of mPulse Mobile. “By coming together, we combine mPulse’s unique conversational AI and rich streaming heath education capabilities with HealthCrowd’s engagement solution expertise to build highly tailored programs that put the consumer at the forefront of their health experience. Our reach expands to support over 100M patients and health plan members across the United States and addresses key health challenges like medication adherence, gaps-in-care and plan navigation.”

The new funding from PSG will aim to accelerate mPulse’s go-to-market expansion, enable innovation across mPulse’s health engagement solutions and fuel organic and inorganic growth opportunities. With this investment, PSG becomes a majority shareholder in mPulse Mobile. Current mPulse investors also participated in this round, including Optum Ventures, OCA Ventures, HLM Venture Partners, Echo Health Ventures, SJF Ventures and Bonfire Ventures. Truist Securities served as exclusive financial advisor and DLA Piper served as legal advisor to mPulse. Cain Brothers represented HealthCrowd in the related transaction. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.

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“We’re excited to partner with mPulse Mobile to execute on their growth strategy,” said Marco Ferrari, Managing Director at PSG. “Consumerization in healthcare is placing novel demands on payers. We see mPulse’s unique combination of technologies being at the forefront of innovation aiming to address these needs and streamline the industry. We look forward to helping mPulse accelerate their mission to drive a more meaningful member experience and improve health outcomes.”

“Demand is surging from members seeking a tailored, consumer-first health experience. HealthCrowd has worked obsessively to create measurable value and deliver positive outcomes in the Medicaid and Medicare markets while paying keen attention to the member experience,” said Neng Bing Doh, CEO of HealthCrowd. ”mPulse is reimagining the way payers engage with members to meet this need and the combined strength will unlock enormous benefits for health plans, their members and the larger healthcare ecosystem. We’re thrilled to join the mPulse team and leverage our cultures and capabilities to work toward this shared mission.”

As mPulse Mobile expands its market reach and solutions to better service clients, they are adding two market leaders to their board who will provide strategic guidance on the next evolution of solution and market strategy. Mark Emkjer, former CEO of WebMD, will be joining the board as Chairman, and Scott Heimes, former CMO of Zipwhip, recently acquired by Twillio will be joining as a board member.

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