ZappRx Raises $5.6 Million In Series A Funding To Expand The Company

Pharmacy coordination platform ZappRx announced it has raised $5.6 million in Series A funding today. The new financing will go to further build upon ZappRx’s prescription data automation technology and help to scale operations for the startup.

ZappRx solves a unique dilemma in the prescription medication industry. Many pharmacies still use fax or phone to transfer medical prescription information from the doctor and ZappRx believes its main competitor is actually the fax machine. It can be frustrating for patients to find out the prescription paperwork has been lost or didn’t come in through on fax when the patient needs it.

ZappRx automates the process between doctor and pharmacy by sending information over an app in real-time instead of by fax to ensure these specialty patients get the medications they need.

ZappRx began with the goal to become the go-to app for prescription communications among all doctors, pharmacists and patients throughout the country. However, with just six employees at the time, that seemed to be a bit too lofty of a goal. The startup shifted focus to specialty pharmacies that provide care to patients with acute or chronic conditions instead. ZappRx says this was because it saw more of a need in the market for specialty medications to chronically ill patients. These are the patients that frequent the pharmacy the most to pick up various medications or must specialty order them.

This new round allows the company to hire more people to help execute on more deals with large pharmaceutical companies. ZappRx recently hired 17 people with the new financing and plans to hire 15 more in the near future.

The round was led by GlaxoSmithKline’s funding arm SR One, with participation from early stage life sciences venture firm Atlas Ventures. ZappRx was SR One’s first investment in digital health, and both firms had participated in the previous round. This now puts the total amount of funding at $8.8 million for ZappRx.

Managing partner at SR One Jens Eckstein was bold on the firm’s renewed commitment to ZappRx’s vision. “We strongly believe in ZappRx’s ability to alleviate these inefficiencies…and to innovative IT solutions for our industry,” he said.