Fierce Healthcare Fundraising Tracker—Lore banks $80M to tackle loneliness; Clinical AI startup SmarterDx snags $50M

At Fierce Healthcare, we keep track of all the venture capital being funneled into the health tech and digital health industries.

Our fundraising tracker provides updated coverage of noteworthy digital health and health tech funding rounds, though we'll still profile exciting new companies and larger rounds that catch our eye in-depth.

Do you have fundraising news to share? Email Senior Editor Heather Landi at [email protected].

For news about funding deals from 2023, check out our 2023 Fundraising Tracker.


Lore Health pockets $80M for app that combats stress, loneliness

Feeling stressed, anxious or just need additional support? There's an app for that.

Lore Health launched a unique AI technology paired with a first-of-its-kind social network to promote healthy lifestyles and combat isolation.

The startup nabbed $80 million in funding from investors, including Polaris Ventures.

Lore provides an outlet for users to find support and suggestions about concerns over jobs, relationships, health and other issues that can result in stress, according to the company. Users share how they have overcome challenges on topics that include social pressures, loneliness, work and sleep.

Lore has also developed a unique generative AI large language model that, like ChatGPT, understands and uses human language. A key feature of this tool—called LoreBot—is “reverse prompting.” LoreBot asks questions and provides encouragement, and the Lore user provides the answers.

The company's app is accessible through a growing number of health plans, health systems and employers. There is no upfront charge for users to join the app. Under Lore’s business model, the company is compensated based on the healthcare savings of its users. 

Lore has raised $100 million in funding to date. Initially built with about 4,000 users, Lore has recently launched with employers, health plans and healthcare systems.


SmarterDx raises $50M to bolster hospital revenue integrity

Clinical AI startup SmarterDx secured $50 million in series B funding led by Transformation Capital. The round also includes continued investments from Bessemer Venture Partners, Flare Capital Partners and Floodgate Fund, bringing total funding to $71 million to date.

The investment will drive product innovation and support scale as the company expands, SmarterDx executives said.

SmarterDx, which raised seed funding in 2022, leverages clinical AI that understands clinical reasoning and provides complete auditability to enable health systems to close their revenue integrity gap. Small errors or omissions in clinical documentation can lead to missed, rejected or underpaid claims. SmarterDx remedies this by providing second-level reviews of every patient chart, enabling hospitals and health systems to safeguard millions in revenue leakage and ensure care quality is accurately represented, the company said.

With the new investment, SmarterDx will add new clinical and financial data integrations and continue to refine its proprietary algorithms that identify new revenue and quality opportunities for customers. SmarterDx finds an average of $2 million in net new annual revenue per 10,000 patient discharges for its clients, which include some of the largest hospitals and health systems across the U.S., executives said.


Rad AI snags $50M to scale generative AI tech for radiologists

Rad AI, a startup that developed an AI platform for radiology, pocketed $50 million in fresh capital to expand global availability of its generative AI solutions.

Khosla Ventures led the series B round, with participation from WiL (World Innovation Lab) and existing investors Artis Ventures, OCV Partners, Kickstart Fund and Gradient Ventures (Google's AI-focused fund), among others.

The company has raised more than $80 million to date.

Read the full story here.


Chapter clinches $50M for Medicare navigation services

The Medicare navigation startup raised $50 million in series C funding led by XYZ Venture Capital with participation from existing investors Narya Capital, Addition, Susa Ventures and Maverick Ventures.

The company said the fresh capital will accelerate product development and hiring as Chapter scales to support more Americans in need of better healthcare coverage.

Chapter says it offers an unbiased Medicare navigation platform by algning incentives between Medicare advisors and consumers. The company’s proprietary technology platform can serve both individual members and organizations that support seniors, including financial advisories, health systems, and content publishers.

The company also launched it new Over The Counter (OTC) product, enabling consumers to quickly and easily redeem OTC benefits in their plans.


Sift Healthcare reels in $20M

Sift Healthcare, a company that developed AI-powered healthcare payment solutions, raised a series B funding round.  B Capital led the round with participation from existing investors including Allos Ventures, First Trust Capital Partners and Rock River Capital.

Sift will use this funding to prioritize team expansion and technology investments in artificial intelligence as the company grows its Payments Intelligence Platform. That platform unifies clinical and payments data, creating a longitudinal data set that ties clinical inputs to financial outcomes. This proprietary data set drives advanced machine learning interventions that predict adverse payment outcomes, deliver workflow-integrated alerts and recommendations, and optimize patient financial engagement, according to the company.


AI optimization platform garners $15M

Opmed.ai raised $15 million in series A funding to build out its platform to optimize healthcare operations. The round was co-led by NFX and Grove Ventures with Secret Chord Ventures, the Impact investor Sir Ronald Cohen and Unbox Ventures also participating.

Opmed.ai is already deployed by leading hospitals and healthcare centers in the U.S. and Israel and is collaborating with leading Health Systems such as Mayo Clinic.

The company initially focused on operating rooms to leverage the application of advanced AI technology. The company says its optimization engine "runs billions of permutations in seconds and is tailored to make predictions based on industry-specific factors, automatically generating alternative schedules that significantly improve resource allocation."

Operating rooms account for 40% of a hospital's costs, generate 60% to 70% of its revenue and often serve as a primary source of profitability. However, inefficient OR scheduling carried out via dated spreadsheets or largely manual solutions exacerbate the issues.

There is massive potential revenue for each unused minute of OR time, $50 to $150 per minute, and empty ORs carry a cost of $1,000 for each unused hour, according to the company. By implementing Opmed.ai, hospitals can generate an additional $1 million in revenue per OR while reducing costs by $500,000 annually, the company claims.


Triomics nabs $15M develop a Gen AI tool for oncology clinical trials

Triomics, an oncology-focused artificial intelligence company, raised $15 million to help automate cancer providers’ workflows.

Investors supporting the round include Lightspeed, Nexus Venture Partners, General Catalyst and Y Combinator. 

Triomics’ preeminent technology is a large language model called OncoLLM. The model can mine unstructured data sitting in patients’ medical records using institution-specific inputs and specific use cases to perform a variety of tasks for providers. 

Read the full story here.


Livara Health snags series B for MSK digital care navigation solution

Livara Health developed a solution for care planning, care delivery and care navigation. The startup raised $15 million in series B funding led by A1 Health Ventures, with participation from existing investors Polaris Partners, Providence Ventures, Martin Ventures, and a new strategic investor.

The fresh funding round will accelerate the innovation of Livara’s technology and clinical capabilities to meet the need and potential of this transformative care delivery model.

Livara has treated more than 120,000 people since its founding and entered 2024 with nearly 4 million people eligible to access its MSK management platform through both health plan and provider partnerships, including Medicare and commercially insured populations. Livara looks to grow all populations and manage additional risk for its partners, including assuming total cost of musculoskeletal care, the company said.


Trovo Health clinches seed funding to build out AI-powered platform to assist doctors

Trovo Health recently launched with a $15 million fundraise led by Oak HC/FT.

The New York City-based startup uses an AI-powered platform backed by a multidisciplinary care team to help providers extend their capabilities. 

Trovo’s platform helps physician groups add new capabilities, including those that involve complex tasks requiring specialty-specific expertise. Providers can use the platform to improve outcomes, deliver a better patient experience and improve their own operations.

It plans to use the funding to further build out its technology platform, clinical operations and leadership team.


Backpack Health picks up $14M for pediatric mental health

The startup, formerly Youme Healthcare, raised a double-digit series A funding round led by PACE Healthcare Capital with participation from ECMC, Techstars, Collab Capital, Bridge Builders Collaborative, Portland Seed Fund, Hopelab, Rethink Education, Genius Guild, and Unlikely Collaborators.

Notable angel investors including Maya Ghosn Bichara and Jeffrey Walker also participated in the round.

The startup says it uses cutting-edge AI to transform pediatric mental health care and address the escalating youth mental health crisis, with a particular focus on Medicaid-enrolled youth.

Backpack Healthcare is developing innovative and inclusive solutions with its AI-powered app and teletherapy services to provide indispensable support to all young individuals navigating mental health challenges. The company strategically works with insurance providers that accept Medicaid, bridging the gap between the limited number of Medicaid-accepting providers and those in need, the company says.

The company's AI-powered app uses advanced algorithms to monitor user emotions to match them with specialized therapists for tailored treatment plans. .

The series A funding will be used to enhance Backpack Healthcare's technology platform, expand its reach to more communities and further develop its teletherapy services. 


Patient care coordination startup Watershed Health secures $13.6M

New Orleans-based startup picked up fresh funding led by an investment from First Trust Capital Partners with participation from FCA Venture Partners, Create Health Ventures, Impact Engine, 450 Ventures, LDH Ventures II/Launchpad Digital Health, MassMutual Ventures, Capstar Partners and Wanxiang Healthcare Investments.

This infusion of capital is being used to meet demand by payers and providers across the U.S. for the company’s real-time care coordination software-as-a-service platform, the company said. It also plans to grow its engineering, development, customer success and sales teams.

Chip Grant, M.D., an interventional cardiologist, founded Watershed Health in 2013 to help the Alabama Gulf Coast region. As the company regularly provided cost savings and improved patient outcomes, adoption of the platform grew organically across the state, including by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama. Demand has since expanded geographically with the opportunity to scale Watershed across the U.S., executives said.

Watershed's current customers include four out of six major U.S. health plans, as well as thousands of clinical and non-clinical providers that are delivering care to more than five million patients. These include national health systems and leading post-acute healthcare organizations. 


General Catalyst backs cybersecurity startup

Cybersecurity solutions provider Blackwell Security secured $13 million in an undisclosed funding round co-led by General Catalyst and Rally Ventures.

The funding will be instrumental in expanding the company's Managed Healthcare Extended Detection and Response (MHXDR) offering, purpose-built for the needs and complexities of securing patient data and defending patient care for healthcare companies. These new funds will also be used to broaden its offerings within the U.S. market.

Blackwell actively works with design partners, including health systems and General Catalyst’s Health Assurance Network, to test and develop healthcare threat detection and response processes. 

The company appointed cybersecurity expert and business leader Geyer Jones as its first CEO.


Ciba Health snags $10M for digital-first approach to chronic disease conditions

Ciba Health is a digital health company that takes a whole person-care approach to prevent and reverse chronic diseases through root-cause treatment. The startup picked up $10 million in series A funding led by DigiTx Partners, with participation from E12 Ventures, 3CC Capital, Plug and Play Ventures and angel investors.

Ciba Health approaches chronic disease treatment with expert care teams, lab testing and a root-cause approach to understand and solve core issues that, in turn, treat a variety of conditions including Type 2 diabetes, digestive health issues and more.

The company's onboarding process includes a questionnaire and easy clinical tests which identify over 300 lab markers, compared to the average 50 markers in traditional tests. Each patient is matched with a provider team, which includes 1:1 visits with a health coach, physician and dietician, and given wearable devices like Fitbits and sleep trackers to understand their conditions and treat the root causes. Ciba Health is currently offered to more than 97,000 individuals. The company says it has seen a 100% revenue growth year over year and a 300% growth in patients on the platform year over year since its inception in 2020. 

The company will use the funds to accelerate product development and scale its operations to meet growing market demand.


Acclinate nabs $7M  in series A funding backed by Labcorp, Latimer Ventures

Acclinate, a startup focused on increasing clinical trial diversity, pocketed $7 million in a series A financing round. Led by Cencora Ventures and supported by Labcorp and Latimer Ventures, the funding will enable Acclinate to scale its impact in the clinical trial diversity and health equity landscapes, the company said.

Acclinate is focused on driving diversity in clinical trials with a unique community engagement platform trusted by top pharmaceutical clients to help make existing trials more inclusive and plan more diverse studies moving forward. This funding will help fuel Acclinate' s expansion and enhance its Enhanced Diversity in Clinical Trials (e-DICT) platform.


Virtual dermatology clinic secures $6M

Piction Health pockets $6 million to expand its virtual dermatology services.

Investors include Flare Capital, Techstars, Argon Ventures, Good Growth Capital, Bayless Healthcare and others.

Piction Health says it offers expedited dermatology care within 48 hours, helping patients avoid three- to nine-month wait times typical in national dermatological services.

The startup was founded by MIT alumna Susan Conover after her own experience with delayed skin cancer diagnosis. Leveraging AI alongside a team of dermatologists, Piction Health has set a new standard for quick and reliable dermatological services.

To date, Piction Health has served thousands of patients across Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Florida.

The startup plans to further enhance its AI-driven platform and expand its reach to more states, making expert dermatological care accessible to an even wider audience. 


DexCom, Labcorp back obesity care startup

Phenomix Sciences, an obesity care startup that says it applies a precision medicine approach, picked up $5.5 million in series A funding from new investors, DexCom and Labcorp, and existing investors, including Health2047, the investment arm of the American Medical Association.

The company has also been awarded a $2.3 million Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant through the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

This capital will accelerate the commercialization and adoption of the MyPhenome test in the obesity specialist market and the wider industry. The MyPhenome test equips physicians with tools to develop effective treatment plans including lifestyle and diet intervention as well as medication and/or procedure recommendations, according to the company.

The test identifies obesity phenotypes, subtypes of the disease caused by the interaction of a patient's genes and the environment. 

The funds will also enable the company to develop and launch additional phenotyping tests, continue to support clinical studies and new patents, and further strategic relationships with pharmaceutical companies and health care providers.

The SBIR grant allows the company to perform additional clinical studies demonstrating the value of obesity precision medicine. Specifically, the grant will fund a prospective study of the MyPhenome test and further prove its accuracy in predicting obesity treatment response.


Health pricing AI startup secures $4.6M

Health tech company Daffodil Health picked up nearly $5 million in seed funding to tackle the multi-billion dollar problem of wasted healthcare administrative costs. The round was led by Maverick Ventures with participation from Epic Ventures.

The first problem the company has targeted is the complete automation and AI enablement of out-of-network (OON) and Reference Based Pricing (RBP) processes for payors and Third Party Administrators (TPAs). The company is specifically focused on the automation and AI enablement of how to reprice, benchmark and defend a claim that is outside of a plan’s network.

The company was started by a group of healthcare and technology experts with over 100 years of combined healthcare and software experience at companies such as MultiPlan, Google, and McKinsey. 


In-House Health nabs $4M to build out AI-enabled scheduling platform for nursing teams

A new startup, In-House Health, aims to tackle inefficiencies in hospital staff management through a technology-based approach. The startup, based in Denver, developed an artificial intelligence-driven scheduling and management platform for modern nursing teams.

The company, officially launching during National Nurses Week, recently raised $4 million in seed funding led by NEA and TMV, with participation from pre-seed investors Vine Ventures and Longevity Venture Partners. The startup has raised a total of $5.4 million to date.

In-House Health was built by three co-founders with combined experience in healthcare operations as well as frontline nursing and informatics and tech expertise.

Read the full story here.