A judge has approved the third attempt to settle disputes among the founders and early investors in Relief Telemed, now known as Relief, paving the way for the early-stage health tech firm to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings, the Baton Rouge Business Report reported. Under the agreement, founding CEO Vishal Vasanji will pay $50,000 and give up his stock and any claims on the company’s technology and other intellectual property. Relief claims that Vasanji had misappropriated more than $200,000 in company funds for personal use, which he denies. The parties to the settlement are not admitting any liability. Relief voluntarily entered chapter 11 bankruptcy last year. Co-founders Vasanji and James Davis envisioned their on-demand care delivery platform as “the Waitr of health care.” Vasanji reported a surge in demand for the telemedicine platform as the pandemic raged in 2020 and further growth when the company got into COVID-19 testing for state clients such as LSU, though those prospects withered as the pandemic waned and there was less demand for testing.
