Vori Health

As a board-certified neurosurgeon, Dr. Ryan Grant believed that the medical system treating chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain was inherently broken. He believed that he could challenge the way traditional medical institutions treated back pain and build a profitable and sustainable company, even in a tough funding environment. His goal was audacious, but as a successful healthcare entrepreneur with multiple start-ups, Grant was used to winning.

MSK pain was one of the most widespread health conditions, with major impacts on the lives of many individuals as well as their employers and society as a whole. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 1.7 billion people had musculoskeletal conditions. Low back pain was the single leading cause of disability, estimated to affect up to half of all Americans at some point in their lives.

However, according to recent research, the traditional treatment protocol for MSK pain was deficient. The surgical option was overused; multiple studies had demonstrated that less invasive and expensive treatments could often be just as effective as surgery. Treatment was fragmented, requiring patients to visit multiple health practitioners, who often had limited interactions with each other.

In 2020, Grant founded Vori Health along with Dr. Mary O’Connor, a new clinical service company that he believed would help patients with MSK achieve their quality-of-life goals while avoiding costly and unnecessary surgeries. Vori Health devised a system through which clinicians would develop personalized evaluation and treatment plans based on patient-defined needs and then deliver non-surgical therapies to reduce pain levels. A doctor-led team that integrated experts in physical therapy, nutrition, and other lifestyle support options would support each patient’s treatment plan. Vori Health services were primarily delivered virtually, although in-person services were also available.

In 2021, Vori raised over $68 million in Series A financing. Preliminary results for patients had been encouraging and the company benefited from the trend away from fee-for-service payment for medical services. In 2023, Vori's management was contemplating a Series B financing round. They recognized that the investment environment had changed since the company their Series A round. Vori saw that investors were using profitability as a metric over revenue and were less eager to fund organizations holding large customer contracts that required a significant level of resources, preferring companies that could grow organically from their own profits. Vori had to meet these investor expectations while facing a stiff competitive market, including traditional providers that continued to favor the surgery-first model, other virtual services, and new deep-pocketed entrants that had entered the healthcare field.

In light of these developments, Vori needed to develop a go-to-market plan that allowed it to reach its potential customers and scale. This would mean identifying potential healthcare partners as well as fashioning pricing models and operational enhancements to facilitate working within an expanded network.