tend
Founded 2018 · 586 employees on LinkedIn · 6 known investors
Tend operates modern dental clinics offering cleanings, exams, and general dentistry with patient-comfort features like show selection during appointments and clear care-plan explanations. It serves individual dental patients across U.S. locations including New York, Atlanta, Boston, Nashville, and Washington, D.C.
Also known as Tend · Tend Dental
Investors · 6
Also in the syndicate · 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Tend is a dental care company that operates branded dental "studios" providing a full suite of preventative, restorative and cosmetic dentistry, including dental exams, orthodontics marketed as Breezy Braces, oral surgery and emergency care. The company was founded in 2018 with venture studio Juxtapose and launched commercially in October 2019 in New York City, positioning itself around a hospitality-oriented patient experience, visit customization and price transparency.
The patient journey is built around digital booking, payment and care tracking, a personalized app and an online-first experience. Patients maintain a Tend profile in which they record preferences that dentists use to tailor visits. Alongside in-studio care, Tend introduced a line of dentist-designed consumer oral care products in 2020, extending the brand into at-home retail.
As of the April 2021 Series C announcement, Tend had served more than 20,000 patients with 256 team members and six New York City studios (Chelsea, Flatiron, Grand Central, Wall Street, Upper West Side and Williamsburg), with a plan to reach 20 locations that year. The Juxtapose portfolio page later describes the company as serving patients in over 25 studios spanning Boston, New York City, Nashville and Atlanta.
Founding story
Doug Hudson joined forces with venture studio Juxtapose to found Tend, co-founding the company with Andy Grover and Michael Stenclik. Hudson previously was founding CEO of SmileDirectClub and earlier founded Hearing Planet (1999), Simplex/DiabetesCareClub and related diabetes and CPAP supply businesses. In 2018 he worked on the Project Ivory prototype and ran a one-practice "Stella" dental beta with Juxtapose before launching Tend. Hudson has described the goal as building a patient-first dental company covering booking, the appointment itself, pricing transparency and a digital front door.
Business model
Tend operates its own physical dental studios and delivers clinical dental services directly to consumer patients, supplemented by sales of dentist-designed consumer oral care products. Sources describe dentistry as a durable retail model with strong unit economics driven by studio capacity and patient demand.
Revenue derives from dental services delivered in company-operated studios and from sales of dentist-designed consumer oral care products, sold in-studio and through online retail.
Traction
More than 20,000 patients served and 256 team members as of April 2021, with the company stating that patient demand consistently outpaced studio capacity, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. Studio count grew from six at the Series C to more than 25 per the Juxtapose portfolio page.
Latest developments
A PR Newswire listing of other releases from Tend references a new dentist compensation model setting a benchmark of 40% commission plus equity and continuing education; no date or further detail is provided in the source. Leadership references in the Juxtapose page cite Brian Bouma as CEO and, separately in body text, Troy Bage as CEO, indicating a change from founding CEO Doug Hudson.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Tend positions itself as a modern, patient-experience-led alternative to traditional dental practices. Investor Lee Fixel of Addition framed the opportunity as transformation of a $142 billion dental market.
Differentiation claims center on hospitality-oriented studio design, visit customization based on stated patient preferences, price transparency, digital booking and payment, and a breadth of services under one brand, plus a dentist-designed consumer product line.
Technology
Tend's offering is underpinned by technology for booking, paying and tracking oral care, a personalized patient app, a fully online experience, and patient profiles capturing visit preferences that clinicians use to tailor appointments. Sources describe state-of-the-art clinical technology in the studios but provide no technical specifics.
Go-to-market
Direct-to-consumer, studio-by-studio market entry in dense urban locations, combined with online booking and an online retail channel for its consumer products. Expansion has proceeded from a New York City base outward to additional East Coast and Southern U.S. cities.
Individual consumer dental patients in urban U.S. markets seeking preventative, restorative and cosmetic dental care, as well as retail buyers of its consumer oral care products.
Geography
Began with six studios in New York City (Chelsea, Flatiron, Grand Central, Wall Street, Upper West Side, Williamsburg) plus a team presence in Nashville. Planned 2021 entries into Washington D.C. and Boston. Later described as operating over 25 studios in locations from Boston through New York City to Nashville and Atlanta.
History
Founded in 2018 in partnership with Juxtapose, following in-person dental betas including the "Project Ivory" prototype and a one-practice "Stella" pilot. Tend launched publicly in October 2019 in New York City, added a consumer product line in 2020, raised a $125 million Series C in April 2021 to fund national expansion from six to 20 studios including Washington D.C. and Boston, and subsequently grew to over 25 studios spanning Boston, New York City, Nashville and Atlanta.
Compiled by commissioned research from 2 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 4
by search overlap
Companies competing with tend for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 5
launches, deals, and filingsTend announced $125 million in Series C funding led by Addition, with participation from existing investors GV, Juxtapose, Redpoint and Zigg Capital. Proceeds were earmarked for national expansion, technology and patient experience investment, and a suite of comprehensive services and oral care products.
$125M source ↗
Over the course of 2021 Tend planned to increase its number of locations from six in New York City to 20, including new market entries in Washington D.C. and Boston.
Tend introduced a suite of dentist-designed consumer products intended to extend its offering beyond the studio into members' daily routines.
Tend launched in October 2019 with an approach combining hospitality with patient experience, including visit customization and price transparency.
Doug Hudson co-founded Tend with Andy Grover and Michael Stenclik and served as founding CEO. The Juxtapose portfolio page lists Brian Bouma as CEO in one field and describes the company as led by CEO Troy Bage in its body text.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 2
primary sources listed
- Tend Raises $125M in Series C Funding Led by Additionprnewswire.com · web
2 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does tend do?
- Tend operates technology-enabled dental studios in U.S. cities, offering preventative, restorative and cosmetic care with transparent pricing.
- Who are tend's investors?
- tend's investors include Atomic, Good Friends, JUXTAPOSE VENTURES, Redpoint Ventures, Zigg Capital.