Second Generation Pakistani-American's Health Tech Startup Raises $130 Million in Series C
By Riaz Haq
CA
Luma Health, co-founded by Adnan Iqbal, a second generation Pakistani American, raised $130 million in series C funding. Adnan's fellow co-funders include Dr Tashfeen Ekram, a Pakistani-American and Aditya Bansod, an Indian-American. The latest round has brought Luma's total funding to $160 million.
"I have had a life of privilege. I have been to the right institutions. I have played collegiate sports. I check all the boxes. But I have a recognizable Pakistani Muslim name. I would have raised twice the amount of money in half the time if I were a white guy. That's just the honest truth", he told an interviewer.
San Francisco-based Luma’s platform is designed to centralize and automate scheduling and communication with patients. The company’s tech integrates with more than 80 types of electronic health records (EHRs) across the healthcare IT stack. Luma has served more than 30 million patients across the US and is used by more than 550 health systems, hospitals and clinic networks nationwide, according to the company.
Telehealth services supported by Luma have been particularly useful during the COVID19 pandemic. Digital outreach has helped remind patients of their vaccination appointments, which has reduced no-shows. Digitization has minimized physical contact and increased the speed of operations.
Adnan Iqbal is currently serving as the CEO of Luma. He studied Biology at UC Berkeley, then got his master's degree at Cambridge University in England before working at Genentech — a large US biotech company. He then went to the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and that’s where he and his co-founder Tashfeen Ekram (a medical doctor) started working on Luma.
Talking with Dr Mustafa Sultan, a British Pakistani doctor, Adnan described what it is like to be a Pakistani young man in Silicon Valley. He recognizes that there is an increasing number of high-profile entrepreneurs and executives with immigrant backgrounds in America but he said "it is much harder to raise capital if you are not a white guy… that's just the honest truth". "I have had a life of privilege. I have been to the right institutions. I have played collegiate sports. I check all the boxes. But I also have a recognizable Pakistani Muslim name. I would have raised twice the amount of money in half the time if I were a white guy. That's just the honest truth", he added.
Here's a video clip of CNN analyst Van Jones talking about Pakistani-Americans:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr5cLv8Dj2I
