Healthcare AI companies raise big bucks from optimistic investors

Healthcare organizations certainly have a strong appetite for artificial intelligence, but there are still some questions around whether or not the industry’s eyes are bigger than its stomach.  Not so for the investment community, which appears insatiable in its quest to secure a prime seat at the table by doling out massive amounts of funding to startups that promise to bring home the bacon. 

Eight- and nine-figure funding rounds seem to be becoming the norm for some companies that aim to leverage AI to fix some of the biggest problems in healthcare. 

Nabla’s $70 million Series C funding round is one example of the recent spate of enormous funding announcements. The company has snagged around $120 million in total to create AI agents that can function within the electronic health record to streamline workflows and improve documentation. 

The announcement is one of half a dozen mega-deals clinched in just the last few weeks, indicating a potential trend toward a “bigger is better” approach from investors. Here are some of the other notable events in the financing world – all of which have taken place in June alone. 

Commure raises $200 million for AI-powered RCM platform

General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund (CVF) has poured $200 million into an AI-enabled revenue cycle management platform from Commure, which also provides ambient Al clinical documentation, workflow, and practice management solutions. Commure already serves more than 130 health systems across the country, including a partnership with HCA, the nation’s largest health system, to roll out ambient AI capabilities. 

“This funding lets us accelerate our reach and impact in healthcare with capital aligned to performance,” said Tanay Tandon, CEO of Commure. “We’re focused on expanding access to our technology across the U.S. healthcare system.” 

Tennr aims to revamp the referrals process with $101 million Series C raise

With specialized AI language models that compare clinical documentation with payer criteria to avoid denials or delays, Tennr hopes to simplify the notoriously complex process of securing timely referrals for patients.  $101 million in new funding will help the company further build out its capabilities to reduce the need for cumbersome manual reviews and re-submissions. Its new Tennr Network, a coordinating layer of infrastructure that connects payers, providers, and patients, plans to bring more visibility into the process and shorten the timeframe from request to appointment. 

Autonomize AI snags $28 million for agentic AI orchestration

Agentic AI might be the next big thing in healthcare, but individual agents will need coordination and oversight. Autonomize AI hopes to provide that level of orchestration with its new platform that includes pre-trained, ready-to-work AI agents that can act as “intelligent copilots” for care management, utilization management, benefits checks, and chart reviews.  

“Automation alone is not the answer for healthcare, but accountable, human-centered AI augmentation is,” said CEO Ganesh Padmanabhan. “This funding will help us scale our platform to solve some of the most frustrating, high-impact operational challenges in healthcare, while keeping patients and care outcomes at the center.” 

$45 million in Series A funding will support Ellipsis Health’s AI Care Manager

Salesforce, Khosla Ventures, and CVS Health Ventures, have provided $45 million in Series A funding to Ellipsis Health to launch an AI care manager, called Sage. The platform leverages Ellipsis’ proprietary “Empathy Engine,” which is built on patented vocal biomarker technology and trained on millions of live clinical patient calls, according to a press release. 

The company says Sage can use this training to adjust its tone and content based on a patient’s emotional state and mental health needs, which may increase engagement and encourage positive behavior change. 

Sword Health secures $40 million for AI-driven mental healthcare platform

Sword Health is looking back up its $4 billion valuation with an additional $40 million to support its new Mind platform, a “proactive, 24/7 model that integrates cutting-edge AI with licensed, PhD-level mental health specialists.”  The model takes a three-pronged approach to mental healthcare, with a personalized AI agent, a proprietary wearable device to capture additional patient context, and a cadre of clinicians to support patients with a human touch. 

“We’ve rebuilt care delivery from the ground up—replacing a century-old, labor-intensive model with AI that removes barriers to world-class care for everyone who needs it,” said Virgilio Bento, Founder & CEO of Sword Health. “This funding is a milestone that allows us to deepen our foundational AI research and to accelerate our expansion into new healthcare verticals like mental health—a field still dominated by unscalable and ineffective models—bringing truly life-changing care to millions who struggle with mental health around the world, the same way we did it for millions with physical pain.” 

Jennifer Bresnick is a journalist and freelance content creator with a decade of experience in the health IT industry.  Her work has focused on leveraging innovative technology tools to create value, improve health equity, and achieve the promises of the learning health system.  She can be reached at [email protected].