John Sculley-backed health startup Audax raises $21M, SEC filing says

Audax Health, a digital health startup backed by former Apple CEO John Sculley and a group of established health professionals, has raised $ 21 million in debt, options and other securities, according to an SEC filing.

The filing, first spotted by the Washington Business Journal, indicates that the funding is part of a larger $ 45 million round and that the first sale took place in April.

Founded in 2010 by 23-year-old Grant Verstandig, the Washington, DC-based company works with insurance companies, such as Cigna, to offer a social, personalized platform that helps consumers make healthy living decisions while competing with others and earning rewards. After meeting Verstandig, Sculley reportedly become his mentor in addition to investing and serving as an Audax board member. According to a recent Bloomberg BusinessWeek story, Sculley said Verstandig could be “the Steve Jobs of consumer health services.”

In addition to Sculley, other board members include Richard Klausner, a managing partner at The Column Group venture firm and former executive director of the Global Health Program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Roger Ferguson, president and CEO of TIAA-CREF and John Wallis Rowe, a professor of health policy at Columbia University’s School of Public Health. The filing, dated Thursday, comes on the heels of news that the company added four new executives, including former LivingSocial VP Camille Watson and former Meebo VP Tom Perrault.

Audax did not reply to a request for comment but we’ll update when we learn more.


GigaOM