Hinge Health is shooting for profitability i 2024 as the physical-therapy startup prepares for an IPO

• Hinge Health is preparing for an initial public offering once market conditions become favorable.
• CEO Daniel Perez said Hinge Health projects it will hit a cash flow break-even in 2024.
• The digital musculoskeletal therapy startup is now looking for smaller companies to acquire.

Hinge Health CEO Daniel Perez told Reuters in January 2021 that the startup hoped to go public in 2022 after raising $300 million in Series D funding.

That was before interest rates rose and the economy tanked, closing the IPO window for healthcare startups planning to go public.

Hinge Health, which provides virtual physical therapy for joint and muscle pain, has since waited its turn — and is now preparing for an IPO when the public markets stabilize, according to Perez, in an interview on the sidelines of the HLTH conference in Las Vegas.

“We have more than $400 million in the bank, so we’re not in a hurry to need capital, but we want to be operationally ready.” So the locus of control is internal, and it will depend on whether or not the markets are open,” Perez explained.

He added that the company hopes to be ready for an IPO by the end of 2023, but he did not commit to a specific date.

Meanwhile, Hinge Health is looking to acquire smaller digital-health startups as it works toward profitability, he said, adding that the company expects to break even in 2024.

Still expanding

Perez stated that Hinge Health intends to be profitable, or “at least very close,” at the time of its IPO.

The startup was last valued at $6.2 billion when it raised another $600 million in funding in October 2021.

Sword Health, Hinge Health’s main competitor, has stated that it is on a similar timeline. In July, CEO Virgilio Bento told Insider that the startup’s goal is to reach profitability by 2024, after which it will consider an IPO. After raising $163 million in November 2021, Sword was valued at $2 billion.

Hinge Health is still hiring, particularly for positions in other countries. According to Perez, the startup recently opened an office in India and will have about 100 employees there by the end of the year. He stated that the company intends to hire approximately 75% of its new R&D employees in India because those employees can deliver equivalent results to Hinge’s US employees at a third of the cost.

After its last acquisition in 2021, the startup is actively seeking new acquisitions. Perez stated that Hinge Health is looking for companies to help improve its musculoskeletal outcomes, particularly for Medicare Advantage patients.

Hinge Health has also continued to launch its own programs. In October, the startup announced a fall-prevention program for seniors.

In January, it also expanded its women’s pelvic-health program and began doing house calls for in-person physical therapy.