Founders: Jamie Karraker, Matt Gamache-Asselin
CEO: Alicia Boler Davis
Launched:Â 2015
Headquarters:Â San Francisco
Funding: $571 million
Valuation: N/A
Key technologies: Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, machine learning
Industry: Health care
Previous appearances on Disruptor 50 List: 1 (No. 6 in 2023)
It's a tumultuous time for pharmacies, which continue to struggle with labor and supply shortages. Last year, overburdened pharmacists walked out on their jobs at CVS and Walgreens to protest inadequate staffing and rising work requirements. Meanwhile, online pharmacies — run by online giants like Amazon—create competition.Â
Alto, a full-service pharmacy backed by a digital platform, is among those looking to transform the sector. The company got its start when two former Facebook employees wanted to improve the pharmacy experience. Alto started with a small physical pharmacy in San Francisco; today, it has more than 500,000 patients. Customers get access to on-call pharmacists seven days a week, automated refills, and treatment reminders.
Amid the economic uncertainty, Alto, like many other firms, has been focused on improving profitability. Alto says it has improved operational efficiency and reduced costs, helping to reduce operating losses by 50%. Â
To expand its customer base, the company paired up with Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drug Company in October to pick up and deliver drugs to Cuban's online pharmacy customers wherever Alto has a presence. Team Cuban card users can order medications through Alto's website or app.Â
Americans' appetite for online pharmacies has been growing; more than half of Americans got medications from an online pharmacy last year. But there's also a lot of confusion about legitimate versus illegal pharmacies, made worse by a surge in illegal online pharmacies selling counterfeit medications, especially for popular drugs like Ozempic.
Alto was among those in the online pharmacy space able to raise money in the last year, adding $120 million in new funding in September.
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