It’s one of the most painful truths in healthcare: even when life-saving therapies exist, access can remain out of reach—especially for patients living with complex conditions. In the complex landscape of clinical trials and specialized treatment, patients with rare and complex diseases often face a fragmented, inefficient, and inequitable healthcare journey. It’s a challenge that isn’t just frustrating; it’s deeply personal for the patients, families, and clinicians caught in the gap between innovation and access.
Enter Quilt Health, a digital health company rewriting the rulebook on how care reaches those who need it most. We’re thrilled to announce that Underscore VC has led Quilt’s $6M Seed round, alongside MaC Venture Capital with participation from Meridian Street Capital, BoxGroup, Watershed VC, and Coalition Operators. Our investment reflects our conviction in Quilt’s mission, team, and the potential to revolutionize treatment for millions of people living with complex conditions, starting with a focus on sickle cell disease—the most common rare disease in the United States.
Accelerating Access to Transformative Care
Quilt Health is purpose-built for a new era of healthcare—one where equitable access to cutting-edge treatments is not just a hope but an expectation. Their platform addresses the long-standing inefficiencies between research and real-world care.
By intelligently integrating diverse data sources, applying AI to unstructured clinical data, and enabling streamlined workflows for clinician investigators, Quilt unlocks new possibilities for providers, researchers, and clinical trial sponsors alike. Their platform empowers clinicians to engage patients more effectively and allows sponsors to accelerate trial execution while improving diversity and reducing cost—a triple win.
The market opportunity is vast. Today, over 70% of clinical trials fail to meet recruitment targets, a statistic that becomes even more daunting in rare disease research. Quilt tackles this head-on, starting with sickle cell disease, a high-need area affecting hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S., and the company is rapidly expanding into other hematologic, neurological, and cardiovascular conditions. Recent regulatory tailwinds—such as streamlined FDA approval pathways—only amplify the urgency and relevance of Quilt’s model.
This is a space where experience matters. Providers and researchers face complex workflows, and access barriers can derail even the most promising science. That’s why it’s critical to have a team that knows the terrain.
The Deeply Experienced Team Leading the Charge
At Underscore VC, we prioritize exceptional founding teams, and in Andy Ellner and Jazmine Coleman, we saw a team with the insight, experience, and empathy needed to move the needle in digital health.
Andy previously co-founded Firefly Health, a venture-backed virtual care platform that successfully bridged the gap between primary care providers, patients, and value-based outcomes. His background as a physician, healthcare operator, and systems thinker uniquely equips him to navigate the messy middle where innovation often stalls.
We were introduced to Andy nearly a year ago through a Core Community Member and we’ve had the privilege of watching Quilt evolve from an ambitious idea into a highly strategic platform. Bolstered by the talent of Co-Founder and Chief of Staff Jazmine Coleman, whose background spans health plans, clinical business development, and health equity, the Quilt Health team has a unique understanding of both clinical care and research environments.
Quilt’s early traction is telling. Their recent partnership with the National Alliance of Sickle Cell Centers (NASCC)—representing over 100 centers nationwide—is a testament to their ability to align with key stakeholders and build trusted clinical networks. Backed by a growing team, strong advisors, and early engagement from both providers and pharma sponsors, Quilt is already laying the foundation for a more connected, efficient, and equitable research ecosystem.
What’s Next? Expanding Access and Impact
With this new funding, Quilt Health will accelerate product development, fuel R&D, and expand their team. The company plans to focus on partnering with high-quality health systems in regions of the country that have not traditionally benefited from major life sciences focus and investment.
While initially focused on sickle cell disease, Quilt Health plans to rapidly expand to other hematologic, neurological, and cardiovascular disorders—addressing broader challenges faced by millions of people living with complex conditions and the clinicians and investigators who care for them.
We’re proud to support Quilt’s journey as they build the go-to network for complex disease care. If you’re as excited as we are about the future of equitable healthcare access, Quilt Health is hiring across several roles as they scale their vision. Visit quilthealth.com to learn more about their mission and explore career opportunities.
