Honeydew
Bringing personalized skincare treatment to everyone.
Across healthcare, the barriers to accessing expertise are glaring. Patients with chronic conditions often wait months to see a specialist—or worse, they give up entirely, left to navigate TikTok tips, online forums, and drugstore aisles on their own.
Dermatology is one of the most striking examples: more than 100 million Americans live with skin conditions like acne, eczema, and psoriasis, yet only a fraction ever get the care they need. Consumers spend billions on treatments that don’t actually work, while their conditions get worse and scarring sets in. There aren’t nearly enough dermatologists to service patient demand (in fact, we only graduate 500 per year in the US, and more than half end up doing cosmetics), getting an appointment thus takes months, and so 9/10 patients never see a dermatologist. 1/3 of the patients who even get to see a derm and who are prescribed a treatment for their skin condition don’t end up picking up the prescription because of issues with insurance reimbursement and the cost of these medications. Patients end up suffering for years with skin conditions that are entirely treatable.
When David Futoran experienced this pain firsthand, through his own skin journey with chronic acne, he knew he had to do something about it. He called up his dermatologist, the renowned Joel Spitz (just ask a dermatologist friend if they know of him!), who had changed his life through prescribing Accutane to solve his acne. Together they co-founded Honeydew, which has reimagined the experience of treating skin conditions, and is on a mission to ensure that no one in the world has to suffer from a treatable skin disease because of an access issue ever again.
As a Honeydew member, you can quickly connect with a licensed dermatology provider, get a comprehensive treatment plan (that may include prescription medication), and get ongoing support from their care team that tracks your progress and makes sure your symptoms improve. And it works — Honeydew has helped over 20,000 patients, with awesome outcomes, very high customer NPS, and rave reviews.
At Footwork, we’ve been thinking about the consumerization of healthcare since we started the firm. We love businesses that democratize access to services that were previously inaccessible, and have a strong affinity for consumer subscription business models. So when we met David and Joel last year, through an intro from co-investor Rex Woodbury, we were instantly enthralled with Honeydew’s business. Our excitement has been backed up by our experience working with the team since — they are maniacally focused on delivering a great patient experience, meeting patients where they are already looking for help, enabling clinicians to enjoy and see impact in their work, and leveraging AI to improve the service for all.
Partnering with Honeydew has felt a lot like partnering with consumer companies like The Farmer’s Dog and Stitch Fix from the early days. For one, the metrics are too compelling to ignore — check out the active subscribers growth chart above, which has happened with very little marketing spend. But the positive impact on real people (okay, and dogs in TFD’s case!) is what gets us most excited. Like those companies, Honeydew has the chance to be a membership for many years for many of its customers, which we see already through flat-lining retention in older cohorts. The skincare journey, just like the dog-food-eating and personal styling journey, is lifelong.
Honeydew’s ambition doesn’t stop at dermatology. The team imagines a world where (1) clinically-backed expertise is readily available (and eventually free), (2) treatment is attainable, and (3) results are down to a science. They’re building that future, first with life-changing prescription treatments and ultimately for the entire skin industry. If you’re as excited as we are about this vision, learn more about Honeydew’s story in the video below, and come join us.
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congrats team!