Pokitdok Health Care Platform Raises $34M In Latest Funding Round

PokitDok has raised $34 million for its application programming interfaces that aim to make health care transactions easier.

Wayzata, Minn.-based Lemhi Ventures led this series B round for the tech firm, which has dual headquarters in San Mateo, Calif., and Charleston. PokitDok also raised $12.2 million in a series A round in June 2013, co-led by New Atlantic Ventures and Rogers Venture Partners.

According to a news release from the company, the new funding will fuel business development, marketing and technical support to meet demand from large group providers, health care systems integrators and telehealth businesses.

PokitDok was launched in 2011. The tech firm now has 16 APIs that are used in apps for payment processing, eligibility checks, referrals, claims submissions, online scheduling, patient identity management and provider searches.

PokitDok CEO and co-founder Lisa Maki had the idea for the company when she struggled to find a nonsurgical treatment for a spinal injury sustained while practicing karate. Maki and Chief Technology Officer Ted Tanner wanted consumers to be able to shop directly online for health providers the same way people do for clothes or home goods.

PokitDok's platform aims to connect doctors and patients; provide new business functions for care providers and payers; and help electronic medical records and other digital health care services communicate, according to the company. Its APIs --- sets of protocols and tools to build apps --- enable health care transactions to be integrated into any app, website or product.

"Much like Uber scaled quickly by leveraging APIs, emerging and established health companies can apply a similar technical strategy using PokitDok. We give them the tools that accelerate time to market and produce operational efficiency across health care business processes and data," Maki said in a news release.

Tanner heads the Charleston operations, which will relocate into a 10,000-square-foot space on Calhoun Street by the end of the year. Maki heads the Silicon Valley office.

With the investment, Tony Miller, Lemhi's founder and managing partner, and Jodi Hubler, Lemhi's managing director, will join PokitDok's board of directors.

"PokitDok has introduced a novel solution to legacy issues and high costs that plague the health care industry," Miller said in a statement.