Alphabet Helps Its Health Business Verily Raise $1B

Alphabet-owned health technology company Verily is preparing to expand its precision health businesses after a $1 billion investment round.

The capital — from a round led by Alphabet itself — will be used “to support a variety of the company’s core initiatives focused on real-world evidence generation, healthcare data platforms, research and care, and the underlying technology that drives this work,” according to a Friday (Sept. 9) press release.

In addition, the company will consider future investments in strategic partnerships, global business development and acquisitions, the release stated.

Meanwhile, Verily announced in the release some leadership changes, naming company founder Andy Conrad as executive chairman of its board and promoting President Stephen Gillett to the role of CEO. Both changes are effective January 2023.

Gillett joined Verily from Google in 2020 as an operational advisor to the company and eventually became chief operating officer, according to the release. He was also co-founder and CEO of Chronicle, an Alphabet cybersecurity company that is now part of Google Cloud. He has also held executive roles at Best Buy, Starbucks and Symantec.

The investment comes at a time when healthcare — once a reliable bastion of paper checks, paper charts, invoices and faxes — has made “the omnichannel leap,” as PYMNTS research has found.

Read more: 1 in 3 US Consumers Now Open to Out-of-Office Doctor Visits

According to “The ConnectedEconomy: Omnichannel Healthcare Takes Center Stage,” a PYMNTS and CareCredit collaboration, 46% of the consumers said they go online and offline to meet with their healthcare providers to receive the care they need.

Extrapolate on the data a bit, and the implication is that 119 million U.S. consumers are accessing healthcare across various devices, through telehealth and other means — while venturing into the doctors’ offices as well.

Just 14.6% of consumers engaged in in-person healthcare activities only, while 6.5% got their healthcare needs addressed solely via digital channels.