Zipnosis has raised a $17 million Series A financing round led by Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE: SFE) with participation from Ascension Ventures, a subsidiary of Ascension, the nation's largest non-profit and Catholic health system; along with existing investors Fairview Health Services, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Arthur Ventures, Waterline Ventures and Omphalos Ventures. Proceeds will be used to expand Zipnosis' sales and marketing efforts and to accelerate product development.

Zipnosis is the first virtual care solution that empowers health systems to launch their own branded virtual care service line staffed with their own clinicians - maximizing the clinician's time and ensuring clinically appropriate patient outcomes. Zipnosis guides health systems through clinical, marketing, compliance and operations workflows, and guarantees launch of their virtual care programs in just 60 days. Zipnosis' white-labeled software integrates with a health system's electronic medical record and patient portal, and allows health systems to serve both existing and new patients.

Zipnosis' asynchronous platform mimics an in-person interaction between clinician and patient, gathering the necessary information for diagnosis and providing clinicians with appropriate treatment options. For patients, the user experience is seamless. The patient simply logs into the health system's branded virtual care site and completes a short, dynamic online interview that gathers information about the patient's condition. Then, behind the scenes, Zipnosis' algorithm of triage tools sends the interview to the appropriate clinician within the health system for diagnosis and treatment. The clinician is presented with structured information that facilitates a diagnosis and treatment decision in about two minutes, delivering the most efficient virtual care encounter on the market. The clinician can triage the patient with a phone or video visit for more information, if necessary. When appropriate, the clinician can e-prescribe medication to be sent to the patient's pharmacy of choice. The patient is guaranteed a response in under an hour.

Currently, Zipnosis offers virtual care for more than 90 conditions and is expanding into chronic care conditions. In addition, Zipnosis currently works with approximately 17 health system customers including Fairview Health Services, University of Alabama-Birmingham, Group Health, and John Muir Health.

'Our platform is designed to enable health systems to expand access to immediate care using their own clinicians,' said Jon Pearce, co-founder and CEO of Zipnosis. 'With Zipnosis, health systems have a unique opportunity to care for more patients under their own brand name and without adding staff. Patients are happier to be 'seen' sooner without having to step foot outside their home or go to a waiting room. We are grateful to Safeguard Scientifics, Ascension Ventures and our existing seed investors for their confidence in our team and technology, and for their support that will enable us to expand the innovative access we provide to mainstream medicine through our partnerships with health systems around the U.S.'

'Zipnosis offers health systems an incredible opportunity to retain existing patients and acquire new ones,' said Al Wiegman, Managing Director, Healthcare at Safeguard, who will join Zipnosis' Board of Directors. 'Virtual visits are an increasingly popular way for clinicians to diagnose and treat patients without requiring an in-person visit, and have the potential to produce better patient outcomes through more rigorous clinical protocols. We're excited to partner with the Zipnosis team and support its disruptive platform as it works to expand affordable access to care.'

'Zipnosis has illustrated it is a true partner to healthcare systems by creating a virtual care platform that fits the needs of the patient as well as the provider,' said Helen Ciesielski, Investment Associate, Ascension Ventures. 'Its vision of the future of telemedicine, which includes the development of innovative products like ZipTicket® - the equivalent of an electronic boarding pass that give patients front-of-the-line access at their clinic - as well as its ability to integrate into a health system's current processes and IT systems to ensure continuity of care, goes beyond any other product in the marketplace.'

About Zipnosis
Zipnosis provides health systems with a white-labeled, fully integrated virtual care platform. Using our powerful, tech-enabled treatment and triage tools, our clients can offer ultra-convenient access to care while dramatically improving clinician efficiency. Patients may be treated for more than 90 conditions using our pioneering adaptive interview, triaged directly into a phone or video encounter, or directed to visit a clinic for faster service using our ZipTicket®boarding pass. Based in Minnesota, Zipnosis has more than 7 years of experience and data to help our partners rapidly launch and scale a market-leading virtual care solution. For more information, visit www.zipnosis.com.

About Safeguard Scientifics
Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE: SFE) has a distinguished track record of fostering innovation and building market leaders. For six decades, Safeguard has been providing growth capital and operational support to entrepreneurs across an evolving spectrum of industries. Today, Safeguard is focused specifically on two sectors-healthcare and technology. Specifically, Safeguard targets early- and growth-stage companies in advertising technology, digital media, financial technology, enterprise software, Internet of Things, devices, diagnostics, digital health and healthcare IT. For more information, please visit www.safeguard.com or follow us on Twitter @safeguard.

About Ascension Ventures
Ascension Ventures, launched in 2001, is a subsidiary of Ascension, the nation's largest Catholic and non-profit health system. Ascension Ventures' role is to construct and manage a strategic portfolio of investments that deliver venture-level investment returns, have the potential to transform the healthcare industry and significantly enhance the experience for patients, their families and their caregivers. Ascension Ventures has three venture funds with $550 million in committed capital under management. Its limited partners include Ascension, Catholic Health Initiatives, Decatur Memorial Hospital, Dignity Health, Intermountain Healthcare, Mercy and Trinity Health. www.ascensionventures.org