This Crypto Is Worth Less Than 1 Cent. VCs Are Betting Millions on Its Future

The blockchain startup Patientory, which makes a consumer health app and offers enterprise data management services to hospitals and clinics, just closed a $5.2 million Series A including R/GA Ventures.

"With the token, it basically regulates the storage in each node," Chrissa McFarlane, Patientory CEO and president of the Patientory Association, told CoinDesk about her company's token-oriented pilot programs.

Patientory doesn't rely on users owning tokens.

Once the blockchain system is integrated with the hospital medical records, the data is encrypted and sharded so that the Patientory network basically acts like road signs for queries.

In total, the Patientory ecosystem has raised roughly $12.4 million to date, from the ICO to the latest venture capital round.

Most of the ICO funds were spent establishing the nonprofit, with three board members, four institutional members and a dozen ambassadors promoting the blockchain solution abroad. Unlike most token-funded nonprofits, the Patientory Association is based in Silicon Valley instead of Switzerland or elsewhere offshore.

BlockInterop CEO Gina Malak, who spearheads a complementary token project focused on healthcare apps, told CoinDesk she is a PTOY holder who plans to run a node, pay for Patientory's blockchain-as-service offerings and collaborate on workshops through the Patientory Association.

Both business leaders are black women entrepreneurs who turned to token sales because, as reported by Fast Company, researchers estimate less than 1 percent of traditional venture capital funding went to black women in 2018.

Patientory doesn't have any paying clients.

Patientory is also pursuing opportunities with the Dubai Health Authority.