Austin-based Wheel, a health technology startup that offers a variety of virtual care tools, has raised $150 million to continue its growth.

Wheel offers a prebuilt virtual care platform and nationwide clinician network that medical companies can use to build and scale their own virtual care offerings under their own brand name. The platform allows clinicians an ecosystem from which they can practice virtual care and provides training, support and other services.

Wheel, which was originally named Enzyme Health, was founded in 2018 by Michele Davey and Griffin Mulcahey. The company's initial focus was on helping telemedicine firms hire clinicians, but it has since expanded to include digital technology services used by clients to access networks of providers and help companies connect to customers. The company changed its name to Wheel in January 2020 to emphasize a "commitment to move the health care industry forward."

With the latest round of funding, Wheel aims to continue to expand its product offerings, including its virtual care platform and its diagnostic services, with an eye to allowing customers to integrate features including to-consumer lab testing and diagnostic follow-up care. The company also plans to expand clinical onboarding and its educational programs.

Wheel said it will also double its employee headcount, which currently stands at 150, by the end of the year.

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The funding round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Tiger Global, and also had investment from Coatue and Salesforce Ventures, CRV, Tusk Venture Partners and Silverton Partners.

Wheel's expansion plans come as the health care industry is seeing increased demand for virtual visits, in part due to the coronavirus pandemic. Wheel executives said the funding puts the company in a strong position to speed the transition from telehealth to virtual first care.

"Telehealth 1.0 brought health care visits online but companies are still struggling to meet their patients' care needs," Davey, Wheel's CEO, said in a written statement. "We recognized that in order to move the healthcare industry forward and truly deliver on the promise of virtual-first care, we need both the infrastructure and workforce that can deliver 'anytime, anywhere' care. We're excited to continue leading the charge and making personalized care a reality."

Wheel helped facilitate 1.3 million patient visits in 2021 and expects to triple that by the end of this year, according to the company. Wheel sells its technology to a variety of industries, including publicly traded digital health companies, tech companies, retailers, labs and medical-device companies.

The latest funding adds to a $50 million round the company raised in May, and brings the startup's total investments to date to $216 million.

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Wheel's latest funding round is among several significant funding deals for Austin companies early in 2022.

Austin-based media company Atmosphere this month said it has raised $100 million to grow its streaming entertainment service. The startup, a Chive Media Group spinoff, said it planned to hire hundreds of new employees with the help of the funding.

Last week, Austin-based bootmaker Tecovas said it raised $56 million to expand its brand. The company, which started as an online seller of handmade boots, is looking to grow by adding five to seven new retail stores, and expanding its offerings to include apparel, accessories and other footwear. The company already owns 20 stores in 10 states, including a South Congress Avenue location in Austin.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin health tech startup Wheel lands $150 million to fuel growth