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.
Rethink Impact raises $250M to back female-led startups
A venture capital firm focused on cultivating female leadership through technology, Rethink Impact, raised $250 million for its third fund.
With this fundraise, Rethink Impact reached more than $500 million in assets raised. The venture capital firm claims its the largest U.S. venture fund backing female-led companies.
Rethink Impact’s investor base includes 10-plus university endowments and 10-plus foundations as well as limited partners from UBS and Cambridge Associates. Notably, the majority of Rethink Impact’s individual investors are women, ranging from self-made billionaires to global philanthropists to professional athletes, the company said.
For nearly a decade, Rethink Impact has been investing in female-led tech companies closing equity gaps in health, education, climate and financial services. Portfolio companies include Solv, Spring Health, Sempre Health, Neurotrack, Eleanor Health, Bold and Incredible Health.
“Some may have thought that investing in women was only a passing trend in the wake of the #metoo movement,” says Jenny Abramson, founder and managing partner of Rethink Impact. “But this moment makes clear that investing in women and impact is good business, good for the economy, and certainly here to stay.”
Kaiser Permanente, Walgreens' CareCentrix back Vesta Healthcare's $65M round
Virtual care provider Vesta Healthcare announced the close of $65 million in series C funding with new debt financing. The round brings the company to a total of $160 million raised since 2019.
Vesta Healthcare, a digital health support company for seniors, specializes in at-home care support and acts as the connective tissue between patients' providers, caregivers, home care agencies and health plans. The company currently serves more than 50,000 people.
Habitat Health secures $50M, plans to open first PACE center
Habitat Health, an organization founded last year to provide care support to older adults at home, secured $50 million in capital from investors Town Hall Ventures, New Enterprise Associates and Kaiser Permanente.
Habitat Health will invest the $50 million in fresh capital to bring new access points for high-quality care to communities that have been historically underserved and under-supported, executives said.
Read the full story here.
Thatch secures $38M to expand ICHRA benefits
Thatch wants to turn the traditional approach to health insurance on its head. The startup launched a year ago with the aim of offering personalized health benefits that decouples health insurance from employment.
The company secured $38 million, backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and General Catalyst, to scale up its technology and fuel its growth.
Read the full story here.
Digital-first vision care startup secures $33M
XP Health, a company striving to modernize vision care with a digital-first approach, picked up $33.2 million in a series B infusion of capital.
Global fintech VC firm QED Investors led the round, backed by other investors including Canvas Ventures, American Family Ventures, HC9 Ventures, Valor Capital Group and Manchester Story, which were all also part of a $17.1 million series A round announced in fall 2022.
XP Health has raised a total of more than $55 million. The company offers full replacement vision programs that help reduce employee out-of-pocket costs while providing a fresh approach to the vision care experience. Its vision programs cover more than 250,000 people and have seen rapid growth in the last two years since launching its platform, expanding from 30 to over 3,000 business customers, including DocuSign, Navistar, Chegg, Sequoia Consulting, and strategic partners like The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America.
With the fresh funds, XP Health will invest in R&D to continue expanding its product offering as well as increase its focus on generative AI products that will improve the member experience. Gen AI technology also can help reduce typical member friction points in vision care, such as reducing the time it takes for appointment scheduling and enhancing the digital shopping experience. The company also will deploy the funding to continue expanding its sales and marketing efforts.
Revenue cycle automation startup Candid Health nabs $29M
Candid Health aim to simplify medical billing through the use of revenue cycle automation.
The company banked a $29 million series B round led by 8VC and backed by existing investors First Round Capital, BoxGroup and Y Combinator. This brings the company’s total amount raised to $47 million.
The company plans to use the funding to make further investments into its RCM automation platform, including weaving in AI and machine learning to further elevate the user experience.
The U.S. spends $280 billion annually on medical billing with most claims adjudicated manually. More than 1,000 payers and ever-evolving requirements lead to slow, error-prone manual processes, which makes the space a prime candidate for automation, according to Candid Health.
By streamlining the entire process—from claim submissions to accounts receivable—manual interventions are eliminated, and claims are auto-corrected. The startup works with more than 150 healthcare organizations and it claims that it's highest performing customers achieve 95% to 99% first pass resolution and net collection rates.
Pieces Technologies banks $25M to build out generative AI
Pieces Technologies developed a clinical generative AI solution that supports inpatient care teams. The startup completed a $25 million growth financing round consisting of new equity and the conversion of notes. The round was backed by Children's Health, healthcare investment firm Concord Health Partners, health systems including OSF HealthCare and specialized health tech venture investor Rittenhouse Ventures.
Pieces optimizes clinical workflows and reduces provider burden for health systems by producing autonomous, AI-generated clinical documentation for multidisciplinary care teams. As of September, the company has generated more than 5.4 million inpatient clinical summaries across multiple health system clients, executives said.
The company's suite of solutions produce clinical working summaries, working progress notes, patient briefings and discharge planning. The company also developed a patent-pending platform called Pieces SafeRead that employs what it calls "highly-tuned adversarial AI" alongside board-certified clinician oversight to minimize errors and advance the machine learning process as part of AI quality oversight.
Viome nabs $25M to launch diagnostic division
At-home diagnostics startup Viome Life Sciences picked up $25 million in an internal series D round to launch a diagnostic division. The startup also will use the funding to bolster its offerings in microbiome health and personalized health solutions.
The company brought on Kal Raman, who served stints at Amazon, Groupon and Samsung, as its new chief operating officer to spearhead these initiatives.
Khosla Ventures, Bold Capital WRG Ventures, Marc Benioff and other investors backed the series D round. The startup has raised around $200 million to date, including $86.5 million in an oversubscribed series C funding round a year ago.
Launched in 2016, Viome developed diagnostic tests for gut and oral health as well as what it calls "full body health." The company's test kits analyze the microbial composition of saliva, blood and stool samples collected at home and then provide food and supplement recommendations. The startup is focused on early disease detection and preventive healthcare through its diagnostics tests.
As the company expands its diagnostics business beyond its CancerDetect test for oral and throat cancers, Raman will spearhead efforts to develop lifesaving tests for early detection of chronic diseases, cancer and aging, the company said.
At Samsung, Raman served as the chief digital officer; at Groupon, he was the COO; and at Amazon, he worked directly with Jeff Bezos as SVP of non-media business, marketing and retail technology.
"Oral health is just the beginning of our journey into innovative diagnostics," said Naveen Jain, CEO of Viome, in a statement. "We plan to expand our diagnostic offerings significantly, including developing tests for gut health conditions like IBS and IBD. I cannot think of a better person to bring on board to drive our diagnostic innovations. Kal's role will be crucial in enhancing our ability to deliver advanced, personalized health solutions, ultimately helping millions of people lead healthier, more informed lives."
Advocate Health, Y Combinator backs Segmed's $10M round
Segmed, a startup that gathers medical imaging data for AI model development, raised a $10.4 million series A funding round. The oversubscribed round was led by iGan Partners and 67-hospital Advocate Health. Other investors Castellan Group, Engine Health Capital, Bold Brain Ventures, Fox Chase Cancer Center and current investors including Y Combinator, Nina Capital, Nova Capital, Blumberg Capital and Expeditions Fund also participated in the round.
The current series A round follows a financing by Flashpoint Growth Debt Fund received in 2023.
Segmed streamlines access to medical imaging studies for advancing biopharmaceutical R&D and AI development. The startup said it will use the new funding to further expand its footprint in the healthcare AI space as well as to bring medical imaging to the biopharmaceutical and life science markets.
"Our data network of leading healthcare providers enables innovators to get access to heterogeneous and diverse de-identified imaging data that can be linked with other data types. Additionally, our technology allows clients to access, de-identify, standardize, and build cohorts of medical imaging data within their own environment," the company said.
Advocate Health's team is dedicated to "developing the most comprehensive provider-based research data set in the country," said Emilie McKenna, managing director of strategic development at the health system.
"We look forward to supporting Segmed in the shared goal of unlocking imaging data to accelerate medical research," McKenna said.
“We founded Segmed five years ago to improve patient outcomes by revolutionizing medical imaging research," said Martin Willemink, CEO and co-founder at Segmed, in a statement. “We are thrilled to have the continued support from investors like iGan Partners and Y Combinator, as well as the addition of clinical powerhouses like Advocate Health and Fox Chase Cancer Center. Their expertise and experience will be invaluable as we continue to develop cutting-edge solutions for the future.
Weight loss services company raises $3.8M
Bariendo, a company specializing in nonsurgical weight loss procedures and programs, picked up $3.8 million in seed funding round earlier this year, led by SeaX Ventures. The investment will accelerate the nationwide rollout of Bariendo’s core services, including its flagship outpatient weight loss procedure, paired with annual memberships to provide patients with concierge care and wellness coaching.
The company's weight loss program encompasses medical supervision, diet and exercise coaching, weight monitoring, and medication prescriptions.
While GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic and Mounjaro have garnered significant attention, most patients regain weight upon stopping the medications, according to the company. Bariendo says it is scaling a more cost-effective and lasting solution, endoscopic weight loss procedures.
Bariendo currently serves Miami, Tampa and Jacksonville in Florida along with Charleston, South Carolina, with another location soon opening in Detroit, followed by plans to expand nationwide. The company says it offers a comprehensive solution that combines endoscopic procedures, such as ESG stomach tightening and gastric balloon, along with personalized virtual care and scientific expertise.
The company employs a virtual obesity care team of clinicians, dietitians, exercise physiologists and case managers and leverages its virtual obesity management platform to provide integrated obesity care efficiently. It then partners with advanced bariatric endoscopists and local hospital systems to offer procedures to Bariendo’s patients.