AI-Powered LGBTQ+ Healthcare

Problem (health equity): The LGBTQ+ community (~30M Americans, $216B TAM) is a NIH-designated “Health Disparity Population.” This demographic has endured systemic discrimination from within the medical community for generations. 1 in 3LGBTQ+ patients experience discrimination in a clinical setting causing 1 in 4 to avoid seeking care altogether. 1 in 6 are denied care, and 1 in 8 live in states where providers can legally deny care. Moreover, 1 in 5 experience discrimination from payors and 58% of LGBTQ+ Americans are uninsured or underinsured. These barriers harm families and cause undue stress on healthcare infrastructures. 

Problem (data gaps): The LGBTQ+ community (which represents everyone from racial minorities to military veterans) isAmerica’s most under-measured patient population. As this community grows (21% of Gen Z are LGBTQ+) health systems & payors need new data to serve this population. Also, businesses lack critical insights necessary to attract and retain diverse talent and authentically engage the $1.7 trillion LGBTQ+ consumer market ($3.9 trillion globally).

Phase 1 (B2C/B2B): White-label telehealth and Rx platform with providers who’ve completed LGBTQ+ cultural competency training. 

We have an incredible deal with our telehealth partner. Our patients pay us $79 per month for up to 36 virtual healthcare visits per year (12 mental health, 12 primary care, 12 urgent care) and access to over 1,000 medications delivered to their door. The $79 price tag is all inclusive (doctor visits, prescriptions & delivery fees and taxes). 

This cash-pay model is ideal for those who are uninsured and underinsured, as well as those who have insurance, but are seeking more inclusive healthcare options. Our telehealth partner can charge these low rates while still delivering high-quality care (e.g. – each mental health visit is a full 50-minute session) because they’ve removed the traditional managed care elements (health systems, payors, and pharmaceutical companies), thereby eliminating middlemen, overhead, and unnecessary administrative expenses. They also have 2 national pharmacies in-house. 

Patients pay equalityMD $79 per month. We pay our telehealth partner just $15 per patient per month for use of their provider network and technology. The rest, $64, is our profit.

This deal enables us to generate rapid MRR which, in conjunction with our capital raise efforts, helps fund the continuing development of our primary healthcare and data analytics platform. Our MVP’s tech architecture (our MVP was a machine-learning telehealth platform that connected patients with providers who’d completed cultural competency training) is serving as the foundation of our new, main platform. 

Customers: LGBTQ+ individuals and small businesses owners.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stasL8BfFbQ&t=7s

Phase 2 (B2B2C): AI powered LGBTQ+ virtual-first healthcare and data analytics platform connects patients to culturally competent providers using an AI matching algorithm that accounts for each patient's unique needs and intersectional identities.

Our actionable insights will bridge LGBTQ+ patient data gaps, thereby advancing health equity.

As we continue building upon our existing MVP tech architecture, we’ll use AI/ML to create a truly patient-centric, concierge platform that empowers LGBTQ+ patients to become the superheroes of their own healthcare stories.

We’ll develop a novel LGBTQ+ GPT, an “equalityMD Coach,” that clinicians can use in real-time to create safe digital and in-person clinical spaces for LGBTQ+ patients and other underserved communities.

We’ll transform new data we’ll collect—Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity (SOGI), Social Determinants of Health (SDoH), patient journey, consumer journey—into actionable insights for health systems, payors, and corporations so they can make data-driven decisions to authentically engage LGBTQ+ patients, employees, and consumers. 

We’ll use AI with our new data sets to create more personalized patient experiences, more effectively manage electronic healthcare records, and reveal hidden patterns. We’ll also help employers create more diverse talent pipelines, reduce employee churn, and remain competitive. 

Our insights will also generate predictive analytics that can help healthcare entities develop and deploy preventative treatment initiatives, increase patient engagement, and improve patient outcomes. Our predictive analytics will also help corporations anticipate consumers’ future purchases and authentically engage new markets ($1.7T LGBTQ+ consumer market).

Customers: Health systems, payors & employers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN09SvyudiU

Our target population are LGBTQ+ individuals, especially those who are uninsured or underinsured. We’re also targeting LGBTQ+ individuals who have insurance but are looking for more inclusive options. Our initial focus is on delivering culturally competent mental health services and providing free PrEP to those who identify as gay and bisexual men. Importantly, because our community represents every other underserved demographic—ranging from racial minorities to military veterans—we have multiple expansion opportunities.

In 2016, the National Institutes of Health declared the LGBTQ+ community to be a “Health Disparity Population.” This designation reflected the community’s unique healthcare concerns and historic lack of access to care. What the NIH neglected to mention was that this underserved community has also endured systemic discrimination from within the medical community itself and that glaring data gaps about the growing LGBTQ+ patient population continue to exacerbate generational healthcare inequities. 

Our solution—at both stages of development, GTM telehealth product with our telehealth partner and our AI-powered healthcare and data analytics platform—delivers culturally competent care to LGBTQ+ patients. We’ll empower patients to become the superheroes of their own healthcare stories. Patients will enjoy a newfound feeling of agency, dignity, and respect as we work to restore humanity to healthcare.

Even during our MVP days (2021-2022), patients were thrilled that they could FINALLY be themselves with their hand-picked providers (especially in the mental health arena). Similarly, providers were ecstatic that we drove an invisible (and growing) patient population to their digital doorsteps after ensuring they’d completed the cultural competency training required to meet their new patients where they were.

Our entire team has lived the problem we’re solving. Moreover, we’re an early entrant into the rapidly growing $216B LGBTQ+ healthcare market and a trusted voice/leader in the health equity space. Over multiple decades, each of us has earned the trust of our community. Moreover, our pre-existing networks have become local, regional, national, and international channel distribution partners ready and willing to promote our product on our behalf. The trust we’ve earned and the relationships we’ve cultivated and nurtured for years are helping us create a repeatable flywheel at scale. This, in turn, will help us rapidly and organically disseminate our product(s) to those most in need.

I invite you to review our:

Deck: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi...

Executive Summary: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi...

Importantly, our entire team has lived the problem we’re solving and have the trust of the community we’re serving. Additionally, we complement each other’s skill sets and personalities. As such, we have the ability to build a scalable solution for our community as well as for existing (and future) entities/corporations that are a part of the healthcare ecosystem. 

We are directly connected to (and members of) local, regional, national, and international LGBTQ+ organizations that will serve as channel distribution partners for our products (e.g. – the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Out Professionals, Out in Tech, Lesbians Who Tech, International LGBTQ+ Travel Organization, InterPride (international group of pride organizations), etc.). We’re community and thought leaders on LGBTQ+ business, equity, and healthcare issues. We’re sought out by providers, payors, health systems, corporations and others for our deep connections to our community across America and in several countries throughout the world.

Moreover, we learned a lot from our patients and providers during our MVP stage (2021-2022). The tech we built then is the foundation for our new platform. Also, the feedback from our users informed our path forward—that is, pausing our work building a full-service platform and, instead, learning more about our customers, building relationships with entities that will become a part of our AI-powered main platform (payors, health systems, etc.), and, at the same time, negotiating a the best deal possible with a telehealth partner to get our product to market quickly to serve an immediate LGBTQ+ healthcare need that also generates rapid MRR. We’re doing just that as we simultaneously map out, lay the foundation, and continue to build our AI-powered healthtech and data analytics platform based off of our existing MVP tech architecture. 

We completed the incomparable Cedars-Sinai Accelerator in 2023. During our time there, we partnered with Cedars Sinai and the National Research Corporation to conduct over 32,000 patient surveys. We also worked with UC Berkeley to complete over 350 in-person interviews. The data we collected from these massive customer discovery efforts validated our initial hypotheses, corroborated findings from our MVP, and was more congruent with third party research initiatives than we ever thought possible. In short, when you collectively take our unique lived experiences, MVP feedback (2021-2022), and considerable customer discovery (2023), there’s only one conclusion to be drawn: We REALLY know our customer!

4-Minute Pitch: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi...

We built our MVP in late 2021 and began testing it with paying patients and providers (primary care and mental health). Providers completed basic LGBTQ+ cultural competency training before they could be matched with, or discovered by, patients. Providers were ecstatic that our MVP drove the largely invisible LGBTQ+ patient population to their digital doorsteps. 

Patients were LGBTQ+ individuals who’d never seen a healthcare provider. Their primary concern was mental health. They loved that our matching algorithm paired them with providers who were trained to create safe digital spaces where they could be their authentic selves. 

Our MVP worked but had limitations (no insurance, no Rx fulfillment, etc.). 

After testing our MVP and getting instructive feedback from users, we knew what we needed to build to satisfy the needs of patients & providers. However, we didn’t have the funds to continue building our tech nor the relationships with payors and health systems that would make our AI-powered platform truly comprehensive.

Our solution was to partner with a telehealth company who’d white label our brand. They provide the tech, doctors, and prescription fulfillment services. We provide equalityMD’s brand, cultural competency training, and LGBTQ+ patients.

Launching our white label telehealth platform (while concurrently building our main platform) will create brand awareness, generate MRR & demonstrate product market fit, all while serving an immediate LGBTQ+ healthcare need (especially mental health).

We’re launching our GTM telehealth product with our telehealth partner in Q2 of 2024 and anticipate rapid, organic growth (100+ users in our first month).

We’re applying to SOVE because we’re looking for: 

1) Access to potential partners (e.g. – payors, AI developers, research labs, international organizations, etc.) and industry/tech leaders in the healthcare, technology, and equity arenas, 

2) The ability to participate in events that can elevate our brand awareness and facilitate introductions to other players in the global health equity space, 

3) Mentors and coaches who can help advance, elevate, and expedite our work, 

4) The honor of becoming a part of a network of visionary entrepreneurs with immensely diverse backgrounds, 

5) Potential access to additional capital as we grow, and 

6) The ability to share what knowledge we’ve acquired along our journey (including through programs at Cedars-Sinai, Rock Health, Startup Health, Scale Health, Halcyon, UnitedHealth Group, Capital One, and others) with fellow founders who are developing innovative solutions to global health equity challenges.

That last point might sound strange, but it comes from my time serving as a history teacher at a naval boarding school in rural England that’s managed by the royal family. My year in England, which took place between my undergraduate and legal studies, was instrumental in how I see myself in the world and how I navigate through it. As a teacher, I learned more from my students than I ever could have taught them. I’ve applied that principle in everything I do—from litigating cases as healthcare trial lawyer to being a 15-year serial entrepreneur. 

Royal Hospital School: https://tinyurl.com/3ky6hpc6

I believe that becoming a Solver is the next logical step for me as a leader and for my health equity company. If accepted, my team and I will do everything we can to give back as much, if not more, than we receive from the program. 

Pitching at HLTH with Cedars-Sinai: https://tinyurl.com/56ravzth

EqualityMD’s solution is innovative for several reasons. 

First, our provider network is required to complete evidence-based cultural competency training. 

Second, our inclusive healthcare platform employs AI matching technology that accounts for each patient’s unique medical needs and their intersectional identities. 

Third, we transform new patient journey data analytics into actionable insights for health systems, payors, and employers that can increase patient engagement, improve patient outcomes, authentically expand market reach, and generate predictive analytics.

Fourth, we’re harnessing the power of AI and leveraging decades of earned trust from within our community to deliver personalized, patient-centric, value-based care in novel ways (e.g. – we’re developing a LGBTQ+ GPT to assist clinicians create safe spaces and interact with patients).

Fifth, we’re an early entrant, and an authoritative voice, in the growing $216B LGBTQ+ healthtech space. 

Sixth, unlike our two primary competitors that do fantastic work serving the transgender patient population (only 4% of the LGBTQ+ community), equalityMD serves the entire LGBTQ+ community. 

Finally, equalityMD’s team has lived the problem we’re solving, and we have vast, pre-existing networks and partnerships that enable us to become trusted community anchors in each new market we enter as we grow and scale organically. In other words, our existing relationships serve as channel distribution partners that help us create a repeatable flywheel.

Because the LGBTQ+ community represents every other underserved demographic—from racial minorities to military veterans—we have opportunities to create positive healthcare impacts throughout various communities. By applying a value-based care approach and patient-centric user experience to the marginalized LGBTQ+ community, we’re changing how our entire community—and all of its diversity—perceives and receives healthcare.

Notably, when LGBTQ+ patients are asked which aspects of a their multiple identities mattered the most in a healthcare setting, sexual orientation and gender identity (“SOGI”) consistently rank above race, national origin, geography, socio-economic background, etc. 

Health systems and payors are struggling to find and authentically meet the needs of LGBTQ+ patients. Some healthcare corporations are being given “LGBTQ+ mandates” and we know this because they’re reaching out to equalityMD for guidance. These internal directives are forcing managers to find innovative solutions to engage a patient population that doesn’t trust the medical community and for which there are massive data gaps. 

We’re changing how our community views and engages with clinicians, all while collecting valuable new patient journey data. Our mission-driven and data-driven approach to inclusive care can dramatically improve the lives of LGBTQ+ patients, save healthcare entities and employers considerable time and resources, and have broader population health consequences globally 

Our hope is that the patients we help and the AI-powered insights we produce will make LGBTQ+ patients and other underserved communities feel empowered to become the superheroes of their own healthcare stories while helping health systems, payors, and employers conserve resources while learning how to authentically engage the world’s most under-measured patient population.

Current State: 

Underserved LGBTQ+ patients are receiving subpar healthcare and/or avoiding care altogether. Patients feel unseen, unheard, and demoralized. This harms individuals, families, and entire communities while placing undue stress on bloated managed health care systems.

Inputs/Activities:

EqualityMD—a company founded and run by trusted members of the LGBTQ+ community—enters the market with an affordable LGBTQ+ telehealth product that connects patients with providers based on their unique medical needs and intersectional identities. Our team works with patients to ensure their needs are met by our providers and our technology, and iterate accordingly.

Outputs:

LGBTQ+ patients see providers who’ve completed evidence-based cultural competency training. Importantly, this includes mental health as 80% of our community says mental health is their primary healthcare concern. 

Assumption:

Our affordable cash pay model—which is ideal for those who are uninsured or underinsured—encourages patients to seek the medical help they need from a trusted community-created source (equalityMD) to live their best lives. We’ve validated this assumption through our MVP, massive customer discovery, and extensive third-party research.

Outcomes:

LGBTQ+ patients feel more comfortable and confident about the idea of receiving medical care. Thanks to equalityMD, they feel they have a newfound sense of ownership in their own healthcare as well as a voice in how our product evolves as they are now a part of our evolving entrepreneurial, global health equity story.

Impacts:

EqualityMD will effectively harness the power of AI, employ LGBTQ+ cultural competency training best practices, and leverage decades of earned trust to build and deliver a full-service, LGBTQ+ virtual-first healthcare and data analytics platform. In so doing, the company will bring patients out of the closet and into safe digital spaces created by trained medical professionals. 

Diverse LGBTQ+ patients from all walks of life will experience a newfound sense of agency, dignity, and respect in what had been a generational healthcare wasteland. Patients will experience the joy of living authentically and being able to trust their clinicians. This unexpected joy will extend to all aspects of their lives becoming infectious to other LGBTQ+ individuals who still feel abandoned and/or threatened by current healthcare inequities.

UNSDG 3.3.1 – Decrease the number of new HIV infections per 1,000 uninfected population by sex, age, and key populations—particularly for gay and/or bisexual men.

• We’ll track how many PrEP prescriptions our patients purchase (the medication comes free with the patient’s subscription, thanks to our telehealth partner). Over time we’ll track where we’re sending PrEP medication (e.g. – by ZIP code) and compare local, state, and national HIV statistics (infection rates) over the same period we and our channel distribution partners encouraged patients to take PrEP. 
• We’ll track medications patients take to treat HIV once they’ve contracted the disease, because once a HIV positive patient is on a medication regimen and becomes “undetectable,” that individual can no longer transmit the disease (Undetectable = Un-transmittable; U=U). 
• Measurable deliverables: Sexual health education, testing, medication access, medication management, and medication adherence. 

UNSDG 10.3.1 – Decrease the proportion of the LGBTQ+ community who report having personally felt discrimination against or harassed in a clinical setting with a medical provider within the previous 12 months. 

• This is one of equalityMD’s cornerstones. Our goal is to increase LGBTQ+ patient engagement with healthcare entities by instilling a newfound sense of trust in healthcare institutions (and providers). We’ll do this by ensuring that providers in our network have completed evidence-based, cultural competency training. When patients know their provider has the skill sets required to create safe spaces where they can be their authentic selves, they’ll feel empowered to take ownership of their own healthcare story and seek care, rather than avoid it.
• We’ll measure our impact using objective business metrics (number of SaaS customers acquired, churn, CAC, LTV, NPS) as well as subjective, anonymous patient feedback.

With our upcoming paid pilot program with Cedars-Sinai’s LGBTQ+ Center (“the Center”), we’re measuring the number of gay and/or bisexual men we can get to come into the Center for anal cancer screening, along with standard HIV and STD/STI screenings. The Center is struggling to connect with LGBTQ+ patients, even in West Hollywood where 40% of the city’s residents identify as gay and/or bisexual men—a population that is 20X-80X more likely to contract anal cancer compared to their heterosexual counterparts. The risk of anal cancer is even higher amongst men living with HIV. 

The Center sees equalityMD as a “trust bridge” to a historically underserved community that’s just out of reach even though the Center’s desired patient population for anal cancer screenings is in their proverbial backyard (West Hollywood). 

In turn, we’re measuring how many of the patients we bring to the Center for anal cancer screenings elect to use our telehealth platform. We anticipate many will be uninsured and/or underinsured. We also anticipate fully insured customers will opt to use equalityMD as a more inclusive supplement to their assigned in-network provider(s).

We'll employ the same practice for LGBTQ+ clinics/centers that provide limited LGBTQ+ healthcare services.

The core technology that powers our solution is AI. 

Our AI matching algorithm connects LGBTQ+ patients with providers based on each patient’s unique needs and intersectional identities. In so doing, patients feel that they’re both seen and heard. 

AI will assist us in translating new patient journey data (e.g. – sexual orientation and gender identity, social determinants of health, consumer behavioral data, etc.) into actionable insights that generate predictive analytics helping healthcare entities increase engagement with LGBTQ+ patients in a manner that will lead to better health outcomes. 

Specifically, we’ll use AI, machine learning, and natural language processing to:

• Analyze diverse sets of new data we collect to provide personalized healthcare experiences and tailored medical advice and treatment options for LGBTQ+ patients.
• Even though patients can see their hand-picked mental health provider within 48 hours of scheduling an appointment on our platform, we’ll also employ AI-powered chatbots for 24/7 mental health support that can offer coping strategies and even detect signs of distress based on users’ interactions.
• Remove barriers to accessing affordable, inclusive healthcare by providing 24/7 affirming support, scheduling appointments, receiving remote consultations, as well as offering resources to find inclusive in-person clinicians based on patients’ medical needs and personal preferences.
• Ensure the privacy and security of sensitive health information, including implementing robust data encryption, anonymization techniques, and access controls to safeguard user data.
• Integrate with various remote patient monitoring devices and/or self-reported symptoms so equalityMD’s platform can alert users and healthcare providers to potential health risks or changes in health status.
• Recognize and respond to the unique cultural and social contexts of LGBTQ+ individuals and their intersectional identities.
• Analyze, aggregated, and anonymized new LGBTQ+ patient journey data to generate valuable insights for healthcare providers, researchers, and policy makers—this data-driven approach can lead to and improved understanding of LGBTQ+ health disparities and inform evidence-based interventions.

We also plan on building a novel LGBTQ+ GPT to assist clinicians authentically engage patients in real time, both virtually and in-person. This product will function much like a ChatGPT-style interface, akin to a "LGBTQ+ GPT Coach" for clinicians. Providers can interact with the interface before a scheduled visit to ensure they’re creating the safest digital space possible for their patient or even during visits with patients. The latter use would be particularly useful when a provider sees a patient regularly (e.g. – talk therapy) and wants to understand that patient’s needs/desires from an objective standpoint based on what the patient has said over time, not what the clinician has heard (even doctors make mistakes).

Our insights will also help employers hire and retain diverse talent, improve brand image, attract new customers, remain competitive, and better understand how LGBTQ+ patients behave as consumers (LGBTQ+ has $1.7T spending power in the U.S., $3.9T globally).

In short, equalityMD’s AI-powered healthtech and data analytics platform will contribute to reducing health disparities, promoting well-being, and fostering inclusivity in healthcare delivery.

2 full-time: 

• Founder/CEO
• Chief Marketing Officer

4 part-time independent contractors: 

• CTO
• VP Product & Operations
• CFO
• Social Media Manager & Influencer

3 years

The current team didn't come together until March of 2023, just a few months before we began the Cedars-Sinai Accelerator in LA. I insisted that we all be in LA for the accelerator (with the exception of our CFO as he only comes in when needed and our social media/influencer whom I did not meet until early 2024).

Our entire team has lived the problem we’re solving, and we have inherent trust from the community we’re serving.

Justin Ayars, Founder & CEO: Former healthcare trial lawyer; 14-year entrepreneur; vast networks; skilled in sales; extensive experience building relationships & growing communities; coachable & grounded while hungry to learn & teach (former history teacher at a British naval boarding school); natural, inspirational leader with the mind of a philosopher, heart of a poet & spirit of a starship captain; curiosity is his true North Star.

Ken Herbert, CTO: 20 years in tech startups; skilled front/back-end developer; experienced leader & team player; able to help CEO hire tech talent to grow/scale.

Jason Donnalley, VP Product & Operations: 10+ years product development, project management & UX/UI experience; agile, design thinking & process-oriented; first non-founder hire at the popular gay dating app, Grindr.

Jesse LaVancher, CMO: 20+ years LGBTQ+ marketing; serial entrepreneur; former paramedic; skilled manager; anticipates trends before they become viral; 14-year working relationship with CEO.

Brian Rauls: 30+ year tech startup CFO including multiple healthtech companies; veteran fundraising (seed-Series B), operations and exit strategist (average exit of $175M); investor in equalityMD.

Bradley Rauch: 10+ years social media marketing; LGBTQ+ social media influencer who primarily discusses healthcare-related topics. He’s brought in other social media influencers on various platforms who are in love with equalityMD’s mission and want to be a part of our story by making it their own for their audiences.

We’ve gone through dramatic ups and downs as a team and stick together because we complement each other’s skill sets, genuinely enjoy each other’s company, and believe in equalityMD’s mission.

As we grow, we will be actively seeking more women and people of color to join our team. While we have a host of diverse advisors, mentors, and coaches—especially at the corporate level—we want our team to reflect the community we’re serving.

Thankfully, we’re already part of organizations that will make it easier to find wonderfully diverse LGBTQ+ talent (e.g. – Out in Tech, Lesbians Who Tech, Out Professionals, etc.), as well as talent from our stalwart allies.

EqualityMD exists to remedy a generational problem that’s antithetical to the sacred principles of DEI. We’ll march forward with great DEI intentionality as we grow our company, build our team, and serve the dynamically diverse LGBTQ+ community.

Sidebar: Our CEO already has an informal understanding with Plume’s CEO. The $216B LGBTQ+ healthcare space is huge, yet very few actors are playing in this expanding arena. As such, Plume (which exclusively serves transgender patients) has offered to refer non-trans patients to equalityMD. In return, equalityMD will refer trans patients to Plume so they receive the best care possible. Our 2 companies believe that working together, we can prevent members of the marginalized LGBTQ+ community from falling through the cracks when it comes to receiving affordable, high-quality, affirming care. We effectively turned a competitor into a partner.

Phase 1 (B2C/B2B): Individuals and/or employees of small businesses (50 or fewer employees) sign up for our LGBTQ+ inclusive telehealth/Rx platform. For a low monthly subscription, patients enjoy up to 36 virtual visits/year (12 primary care, 12 mental health, 12 urgent care) and can have their prescriptions filled and mailed to them (1,000+ Rx available, including PrEP).

Revenue Stream: Customers pay $79/month (price will increase over time). We pay our telehealth partner $15/month per customer no matter how much we charge. We retain the rest ($64).

This cash pay model is simple and highly attractive to those who are uninsured or under-insured, as well as those who have insurance but want more inclusive healthcare options outside of their covered networks.

This white-labeled product enables us to build brand awareness, generate quick/sustainable MRR, and demonstrate product market fit all while solving an urgent LGBTQ+ healthcare need. 

When interviewing over 350 potential customers in-person, we learned that our $79/month price point is on the low end of what patients would be willing to pay for a LGBTQ+ inclusive telehealth app that provided the services we do (the high end was $300/month).

While we grow/scale this solution, we’ll simultaneously be building and testing our healthcare and data analytics platform. Our MVP tech architecture will be the foundation of our new platform. Funds from our white-labeled solution, together with funding from investors, will accelerate the building, testing, and launch of our B2B2C product.

Phase 2 (B2B2C): Health systems, payors and employers will pay a monthly subscription to integrate our solution into their systems, including as an employee benefit (e.g. - $75,000/month). We’ll offer another monthly subscription for access to our new insights about the under-measured LGBTQ+ patient population (e.g. - $40,000/month). 

A key part of our financial model is to activate our existing networks, which will serve as our local, regional, national, and international channel distribution partners. Our long-standing relationships with these channel distribution partners ensures we create a repeatable flywheel at scale, all the while collecting invaluable new data as we help LGBTQ+ get the affirming care they need at a reasonable price point.

I have an enduring 12-year relationship with the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (“NGLCC”—53 chapters, 438 corporate partners, 7M+ people) that started when I founded the LGBTQ+ Chamber in Richmond, Virginia. EqualityMD is an active member of 3 chapters (Richmond, DC, Los Angeles). I grew up in the DC region and have a vast network throughout the mid-Atlantic.

One of our GTM strategies is to join all 53 regional chambers of the NGLCC. Local chambers will promote equalityMD to their members and throughout their communities on our behalf (e.g. – community centers, clinics, college campuses, etc.). This enables equalityMD to become a trusted brand and a community anchor in each new market we enter. 

The NGLCC also has 29 international chapters.

We’ll simultaneously deploy targeted email and digital marketing campaigns in regions where the NGLCC has a presence to augment work done by local chamber chapters. We’ll utilize free/paid advertising and unleash our 3 LGBTQ+ social media influencers.

The NGLCC has 4 chapters in southern California—Los Angeles, Long Beach, Palm Springs, San Diego—and 4 chapters in the greater DC region—Baltimore, DC, Richmond, Hampton Roads. These 2 beachhead markets have millions of potential customers, many of whom are aware of our inclusive healthtech product.

I serve on the NGLCC’s National Mentorship Committee, which grants equalityMD access to corporate executives in key decision-making roles (supplier diversity, ESG/DEI, HR, procurement, etc.). I’m the only non-corporate member on this national committee. 

In short, we’re deploying short and long-term marketing strategies from both the bottom up and from the top down. These dual strategies will help our GTM telehealth product take off and further solidify the foundation upon which our AI-powered healthtech and data analytics platform is built (e.g. – building relationships with payors, health systems, and corporations, many of which sponsor the NGLCC).

Our GTM efforts capitalize on our pre-existing relationships in the healthtech space as well as our vast connections and long-standing partnerships throughout the LGBTQ+ community.

We’ve raised $895,000 to date from angel investors and 4 VCs: Cedars-Sinai ($100K), Gaingels ($25K), Startup Health ($20K), and Chasing Rainbows ($10K). Gaingels and Chasing Rainbows plan to re-invest in equalityMD during our current $1.2M pre-seed round after we secure a lead investor.

We anticipate closing our pre-seed round in June 2024, generate rapid MRR throughout 2024, and raise a $6.5M Seed round in early 2025. If our MRR projections are even close to our projections, we may be able to forego a Series A round and simply reinvest our profits into the business.