Dallas-based health startup PediaQ has expanded into its third Texas market with the addition of Austin. Round Rock, Cedar Park, and Leander neighborhoods will have access to the company’s on-demand urgent care house call service on Sept. 3.
“We identify ideal demographics based on [the area’s] population, number of schools kids, mean family income—things that would drive people to use the app,” said Jon O’Sullivan, founder, CEO, and healthcare services veteran of 20 years. “We’ll target north Austin because of the demographics there.”
The Austin neighborhoods join The Woodlands in the Houston metropolitan area, and the North Texas neighborhoods of Frisco, Plano, Park Cities, Southlake, McKinney, and Allen—all of which have access to the service. The service will initially be available on Saturdays and Sundays and will expand with demand, O’Sullivan said.
As part of the launch, Austin-area residents also will have access to PediaQ’s newest addition, its free on-demand nurse triage. The service is part of the Q.care platform and allows patients to speak to a pediatric nurse to get answers to their questions for free. It is available from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends.
While PediaQ continues to identify markets in which it can expand, it’s also spent much of this year working on licensing agreements with health systems. Agreements between a health system in North Texas and one in Houston are expected to be announced in the next 30 days, O’Sullivan said, adding that he’s been working on those deals since May.
“This is a new concept for them,” he said. “Once we’re able to announce those two, we believe a lot more systems will want to jump on board.”
PediaQ, founded in October 2014, first launched its services in Frisco in last fall. The startup employs 10 people and 30 nurse practitioners. The company is generating revenue via its Q.care platform, but O’Sullivan doesn’t expect it to be profitable until mid-2017.
The startup recently raised $4.5 million from Texas investors in a bridge round of funding. Last November, it raised $1.2 million, which followed a $700,000 seed round of funding raised in March.
