Omada Health IPO signals healthier market, avoids ‘down-round’ trend

The IPO market is starting to feel healthier.

Omada Health, a 14-year-old company providing virtual care for chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension between office visits, closed its first trading day on Friday at $23 a share, a 21% jump from the IPO price of $19.

The IPO valued the company just above $1 billion (excluding employee options), a figure that’s nearly identical to Omada’s last private valuation of $1 billion set in its previous VC round. The debut is one of the first among recent IPOs that was not a so-called down-round. Many of the latest public listings, including Hinge, ServiceTitan, and  Reddit, priced below their private market highs, though have faired well as public companies.

For founder and CEO Sean Duffy, the successful public offering validates his decision to start a company that he believed the market desperately needed. In 2011, he dropped out of Harvard Medical School after realizing that chronic illness patients required more continuous support than the existing healthcare system delivered.  

Before the offering, he owned 4.1% of the company, according to Omada’s offering document.  Other significant shareholders included Revelation Partners (10.9%), US Venture Partners (9.9%), Andreessen Horowitz (9.6%), and FMR (9.3%).

Duffy told TechCrunch that over his 14-year journey as a founder, he had many harrowing moments.

“I didn’t think our series A was going to come together because we were working on this commercial deal that didn’t materialize, and that spooked one investor,” he said.

“As a young business, something tries to kill you every month,” he continued. “And then as the business grows, it turns into like every quarter or six months, year, two years.”

One of the recent challenges for many digital health businesses is navigating the “collapse” of the market post-COVID boom. Omada navigated the turbulent times by seeking new, rising markets. It recently expanded its offerings to include diet management support for GLP-1 patients.