LAS VEGAS, Nev.— Ashley Tyrner-Dolce, the founder of FarmboxRx, famously bootstrapped the startup for years, first out of necessity and then as a choice.
"I went out and I fundraised, and I couldn't raise capital early on. When I started off in healthcare, it was such a new market. We created the category of food-as-engagement in healthcare. We were the first company to go to market and get a health plan to cover the box of food," Tyrner-Dolce told Fierce Healthcare. "It was just a concept that was so new, and there were questions around 'Where is this market going to go? Is there going to be a market, and could we grow?'"
Tyrner-Dolce started FarmboxRx in 2014 based on her lived experiences as a single mother on food stamps living in a rural food desert. Initially started as a direct-to-consumer produce box company, FarmboxRx shifted to working with insurers, shipping fresh food as a benefit to members. The company's food-as-engagement business model found traction, and, eventually, it was able to reinvest profits back into the company.
Tyrner-Dolce told TechCrunch’s "Found" podcast in December 2024 that venture investors initially were interested if she agreed to pivot her company toward meal kits, which was not the focus FarmboxRx wanted.
"I like to say not all money is green," she said in an interview with Fierce Healthcare. "If you're going to go take capital, you really want to make sure that the people you're taking money from can be helpful to you, that they're going to look at your strategic vision and you're going to be aligned. Initially, I would have taken capital from the right people that can bring value and can help with business decisions that you have as an entrepreneur, especially in a new market."
She added, "I got to a point very quickly that I didn't need to take capital. Once we became a profitable company, I made a decision that I didn't want to take capital. We wanted to have our own path and control our own destiny," she said.
FarmboxRx reached $55 million in annual revenue and signed more than 90 national health plan partners to deliver healthy food boxes, impacting the lives of more than 2 million individuals. Beyond fresh produce, FarmboxRx also provided education, nudges and reminders to get members involved in managing their care through preventive actions like health screenings and lifestyle improvements.
After 10 years of strong growth and becoming a profitable company, FarmboxRx was acquired by social health platform Pyx Health in June for nearly $50 million.
The addition of FarmboxRx will help Pyx Health build out its services to address food insecurity and strengthen its member engagement, the company said.
Founded in 1983, Boston-based healthcare venture investment firm HLM backs innovative healthcare technology and services companies. In the past 40 years, HLM has invested more than $1 billion, building more than 100 companies including AbleTo, CareBridge, InnovaCare, Main Street Health, Phreesia, RubiconMD, Teladoc and VaxCare. The firm has $455 million in assets under management.
In her previous role at FarmboxRx, Tyrner-Dolce met with HLM partners who became mentors to her as she built her company, she said.
"I really loved the team at HLM. They really made me understand this idea that I should go to market as a member engagement company and utilizing the box of food as a tool to engage the health plan," she said.
"They were a lifeline for me. I could call and I could bounce ideas off of them," she added.
Joseph Mayer, M.D., who also helped advise her, joined HLM last year. "The stars just aligned," Tyrner-Dolce said, joking that she decided to join the investment firm after two days of retirement.
Relationship building is key in the healthcare market, she noted. "And, there's a lot of complexities, especially in the Medicare and Medicaid markets being so heavily regulated," she said.
Tyrner-Dolce believes she brings a unique lens to HLM as a entrepreneur in healthcare who not only built a company but also bootstrapped it and inked a successful exit.
"We had to be really scrappy. We had to wear several hats. Also building in healthcare is a unique place to build because all the complexities and it's about relationship building. I think I can really mentor entrepreneurs around that path," she said. "I have a lot of relationships with health plans. I think I can mentor entrepreneurs on go-to-market strategy especially in this current market in healthcare with all the changes that are coming, people are having to diversify their product offering and say, 'OK, this is our product, but we're going to also offer this because dollars are stretched tight.'"
Tyrner-Dolce also can share key lessons learned on member engagement, particularly in the Medicaid and Medicare space.
Even as federal policies rapidly change and the market evolves, there are still big opportunities for startups to grow and scale by bringing value to the healthcare industry, she noted.
"I still believe that your product offering has to do more than just one thing. You have to be able to provide a tremendous amount of value to any health plan that you're working with, especially in Medicare and Medicaid, because budgets are extremely tight. Also, we're in this gold rush, if you will, within AI. It's still in its infant stage and there is so much that can be built and done in a lot less time in the AI world. [The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] has said they're open for business. They need to update all their systems. I think over the next five to 10 years, because of AI, I think we are going to see a different system," she said.