Kanurra raises $6.35M to cut drug costs for smaller employers
What's the deal? Kanurra, a new pharmacy benefit manager for small and midsize employers, has raised $6.35 million. Investors include Asylum VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Daybreak VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Virtue VCDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Necessary VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Ford Street VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Browder CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, plus a group of individual backers.
What's the endgame? The company is building routing and administrative infrastructure to reduce drug costs for employers. Founder and chief executive officer Semih Gultekin, who left Aviary Health to start Kanurra, says those employers are often squeezed by pricing "they can't control and often can't even see clearly."
Why now? Kanurra says it is seeing strong response from brokers, third-party administrators, and captives, and has its first customers ready to start using the platform. It is hiring a pharmacist to lead clinical work, along with operators, sales staff, and engineers.
The signal: Gultekin's pitch targets a long-standing complaint about the pharmacy benefit manager model — that pricing is opaque. By aiming the tools at smaller employers, Kanurra is betting there is room to compete on transparency in a market dominated by larger incumbents.
Read more: Pulse 2.0
