Dallas-launched Health Tech Firm Keeps Austin's Hot Streak Going With $50M in Backing

Fast-growing Austin health care tech firm EverlyWell has landed $50 million to expand its consumer lab testing platform.Founder and CEO Julia Cheek came up with the idea for the four-year-old company after spending $2,000 for medical diagnostic testing and receiving confusing results.With that experience in mind, Cheek founded EverlyWell with the goal of creating a better process, with lower testing costs and easy-to-read results. Today, EverlyWell offers 35 at-home tests including food sensitivity, fertility and HPV. The company sells the tests in 46 states.The investment was led by long-time backers Goodwater Capital and Highland Capital Partners, with participation from Next Coast Ventures, NextGen Venture Partners and others. The company previously raised $5.3 million.The new funding will be used to accelerate product development and expand existing partnerships with brands including CVS and Humana. This month, Target began selling EverlyWell test kits nationally, offering nine products in more than 1,600 stores."We are building a consumer brand, which means we have to be where people shop," said Cheek, EverlyWell CEO. "We need to be in places like CVS and Target to really allow for broader distribution and name recognition."  Continue reading...