Healthcare start-up HUED, which was designed to help connect Black and Latinx patients with culturally competent healthcare providers, has raised $1.6 million in seed funding from Serena Williams' VC fund Serena Ventures, Female Founders Fund, Black Founders Matter, Gingerbread Capital and angel investor Halle Tecco, according to CNBC.
HUED founder, Kimberly Wilson, launched the health-tech platform in 2018 with the intention of tackling health disparities experienced by Black and Latinx patients after receiving improper care from a healthcare provider the previous year.
“My journey was not easy, to say the least,” Wilson told the outlet of her entrepreneurial journey. “I probably pitched over 100 investors if I’m being honest with you about the process. And so, it’s just incredible to have received support from these investors who, from day one, saw the vision and saw our mission.”
With the motivation of her horrifying personal experience and the goal of helping 500,000 Black and Latinx patients by the year 2025 by providing access to quality healthcare, Wilson was particularly selective and intentional about whom she accepted start-up capital from.
“Female Founders Fund has been committed to investing in women and minority founders from day one. That is their North Star,” said Wilson. “So, it already made sense to embark on that journey together. And for Serena, who has personally talked about the issues she has had as a Black woman navigating the health-care system, obviously, there was a mutual sense of understanding.”
With the new round of funding, Wilson works to scale HUED, improve physician engagement, offer anti-racism and implicit bias training, and grow the HUED team.
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