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Iris Plans: Tech-enabled Advance Care Planning service for seriously ill patients, using online tools and video to align care with personal goals.
Iris Plans, based in Austin, Texas, provides tech-enabled Advance Care Planning (ACP) services to individuals with serious medical conditions, utilizing interactive online tools and live video conferences with care facilitators. The service aims to align patient care with personal goals and values, delivering detailed medical directives through partnerships with payers and value-based healthcare providers nationwide. Now powered by Aledade, the organization focuses on reducing unnecessary care utilization while improving quality and patient experience, scaling access to palliative care. Iris Plans has secured $5.1 million in funding and reported an estimated revenue of $22.3 million, operating with approximately 40 employees. The company was founded in 2015 by co-founder Stephen Bekanich. Its business model centers on partnerships with health insurers, payers, and healthcare providers for telehealth ACP services.
Iris Plans has raised $10.8M across 3 funding rounds.
Iris Plans has raised $10.8M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Iris Plans has raised $10.8M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Iris Plans's investors include Todd Pietri, Krishna Srinivasan, Better Ventures, LiveOak Venture Partners, Rick Moss.
Iris Plans is a telehealth platform specializing in Advance Care Planning (ACP) for individuals with serious medical conditions, offering trained facilitators via phone or video to guide families through personalized care planning, document creation, and distribution.[1][2][4][5] It serves patients, families, caregivers, and clinicians nationwide through partnerships with payers and value-based healthcare providers, addressing unmet needs in end-of-life and chronic illness decision-making to improve quality of life, reduce unnecessary healthcare costs (estimated at $210 billion annually), and enable better-aligned care.[2][3][4][5] Founded in 2015 in Austin, Texas, the company raised $10.05M before being acquired by Aledade in January 2022, now operating as Iris powered by Aledade with innovations like the Empower self-guided platform.[1][2]
Iris Plans was founded in 2015 in Austin, Texas, by Steve Wardle (CEO), a seasoned finance leader with experience in banking turnarounds and fund management; Andrew Chen (CTO), a technology innovator in AI for healthcare and SaaS; and Stephen Bekanich, MD (Chief Medical Officer), an entrepreneurial physician who directed palliative care programs and led a large ACO saving over $15M.[3][4] The idea emerged from personal experiences—Bekanich witnessed his grandparents' inadequate end-of-life care, mirroring Wardle's observations—highlighting workforce shortages in palliative care and the need for scalable ACP amid rising serious illnesses affecting 8 million Americans.[4] Early traction came via telehealth partnerships, focusing on high-demand West Coast value-based care markets, leading to product expansions like disease-specific planning and the 2021 Empower platform launch.[2][4]
Iris Plans stands out in healthcare planning through a human-centered telehealth model combining technology, expert facilitation, and comprehensive outputs:
Iris Plans rides the value-based care wave, shifting from fee-for-service models amid rising chronic illness prevalence and $210B in avoidable end-of-life spending, amplified by telehealth adoption post-COVID.[2][3][4] Timing aligns with payer demand for ACP solutions amid workforce shortages in palliative care, positioning it strongly in a market with 8M urgent needs and West Coast leadership in risk-based contracts.[4] It influences the ecosystem by enabling shared decision-making, lowering costs for health plans/ACOs, and complementing tools like WiserCare or Cake, now amplified via Aledade's primary care network for broader implementation.[1][5]
Post-2022 Aledade acquisition, Iris Plans will likely expand its Empower platform and ACP integrations into more payer/provider networks, capitalizing on AI-driven personalization and regulatory pushes for value-based care.[2][5] Trends like aging populations, telehealth normalization, and cost-containment pressures will fuel growth, evolving its role from niche facilitator to ecosystem standard for patient-centered planning. This ties back to its core mission: making compassionate, tech-enabled ACP accessible to transform serious illness experiences.
Iris Plans has raised $10.8M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $5.1M Other Equity in September 2017.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 27, 2017 | $5.1M Other Equity | Todd Pietri, Krishna Srinivasan | Better Ventures |
| Sep 1, 2017 | $5.0M Seed | LiveOak Venture Partners | |
| Sep 14, 2016 | $750K Seed | Rick Moss |