In 2018, we founded Sitka to help improve access to and delivery of specialty care across the nation. Today, we're excited to share that we've raised $14 million in Series A financing led by Venrock, with participation from existing investors Optum Ventures, Homebrew, First Round Capital, and Lifeforce Capital. This round of funding will enable us to accelerate product development and expand growth with new and existing partners.
When we started Sitka, our mission was to bring specialty care into a value-based care system that works better for primary care providers, specialists, and most importantly, for patients. This year, the pandemic accelerated our work and vConsults have become a crucial tool within the healthcare industry. We have onboarded hundreds of fellowship-trained specialty physicians to our network and partnered with large healthcare systems and national primary care providers, including ChenMed.
ChenMed is a leading senior-focused primary care practice operating more than 75 medical centers. In alignment with their mission to keep patients healthy, happy, and at home, our platform has been a critical tool for ChenMed’s clinicians and patients to access great specialty expertise. This partnership with ChenMed enables providers to continue extending their high-touch care model to patients in a safe and effective way, while improving the doctor-patient relationship and decreasing unnecessary costs for patients.
As part of our commitment to improving the specialty care experience for patients and providers, we're also excited to welcome Darshak Sanghavi, MD, former Chief Medical Officer of UnitedhealthCare Medicare & Retirement, as an advisor. As a physician and leading voice in public health, Dr. Sanghavi will help advance Sitka’s mission to increase access to trusted and quality care.
It’s been an unusual year, but I’m so proud of the Sitka team and how much we have grown together. As an always and fully remote team, Sitka was uniquely prepared for the fast shift into a fully digital reality.
Now, as we enter the next Sitka chapter, I’m excited to grow our team, expand partnerships, and transform access to care. Together, we can drastically improve the experience for primary care providers and specialists. Most importantly, we can improve care for patients.
