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 hlandi@questex.com.
Mandolin picks up $40M for AI automation for specialty drugs
Mandolin raised $40 million in funding to continue building out its AI automation platform for specialty drug access. The funding was backed by Greylock Partners, SignalFire, Maverick, SV Angel, along with Jerry Yang (co-founder of Yahoo!) and Guillermo Rauch (CEO of Vercel).
Founded in 2024 by repeat entrepreneurs Will Yin (CEO) and Rohit Rustagi (COO), Mandolin is used by many of the nation’s largest infusion providers, pharmacies, and health systems, according to the company, including Vivo Infusion, FlexCare Infusion, OI Infusion, TwelveStone Health Partners, and Amber Specialty Pharmacy. Across customers, Mandolin is deployed in over 700 clinic locations and serves over 250,000 new patients a year.
Specialty therapies represented $250 billion in drug spend in 2024 and are expected to reach $1.5 trillion in drug spend in eight years. They are also 75% of the drugs in the FDA’s approval pipeline.
“Insurance companies make the approval process challenging for specialty medications. Infusion providers, pharmacies, and health systems spend an excessive amount of manpower on basic tasks like checking insurance coverage, submitting prior authorizations, or verifying reimbursement amounts, which take weeks per prescription and lead to millions in bad debt,” Yin said in a statement. “Leveraging the latest advancements in AI, we saw an opportunity to build autonomous agents that can tackle these workflows for providers in minutes and more reliably.”
Mandolin’s AI platform automates the end-to-end administrative side of infused and injected drug delivery for providers. Mandolin’s AI agents can complete tasks like reasoning about clinical policies, calling payers, parsing faxes and handwritten notes, and making decisions across entire workflows. They integrate into existing electronic health records (EHRs), payer portals, and manufacturer hubs.
Town Health Ventures, Kaiser Permanente back Arine's $30M series C
Arine is using artificial intelligence to improve medication management to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.
The startup raised $30 million in a series C funding, led by Town Hall Ventures. Kaiser Permanente Ventures also participated, along with other existing investors. Arine has raised a total of $66 million to date.
Arine's AI platform focuses on medication optimization for health plans and risk-bearing providers, delivering personalized and cost-effective medication therapy to support value-based care. The company's platform leverages large, diverse datasets to identify the right individuals, recommend the most effective interventions, and continuously measure impact to ensure meaningful outcomes.
Arine touts that its platform leads to measurable results: more than 10% in total cost savings and more than 40% reduction in hospitalizations. These outcomes have led to >100% growth in the last year and an average contract expansion of 80% with existing clients, the company said.
With the new funding, Arine will focus on several key areas to meet evolving industry needs. It plans to expand its capabilities in specialty pharmacy management. At the same time, the company is accelerating AI innovation to automate high-volume, low-complexity tasks, allowing providers to focus more on direct patient care. Arine will also continue to integrate comprehensive data to further personalize medication therapy.
Cigna Group Ventures backs agentic AI platform
Autonomize AI developed an agentic AI orchestration platform for healthcare operations. Its pre-trained, AI agents handle some of the industry’s most demanding workflows, such as care management, utilization management and benefits checks to chart reviews.
The startup, launched in 2022, picked up $28 million in series A funding, bringing total capital raised to $32 million to date. The round was led by Valtruis, The Cigna Group Ventures, Tau Ventures and other strategic investors. Asset Management Ventures, ATX Venture Partners and Capital Factory are among the company’s existing investors who also participated.
Autonomize AI says its agents work together as intelligent co-pilots in a coordinated, multi-agent system that understands real workflows, not just prompts. The company claims it is already delivering “real, measurable value at scale” inside Fortune 100 healthcare enterprises.
Autonomize AI touts that the platform has achieved tangible results—36,000 clinical hours saved per month that was spent on mundane administrative tasks; 100,000+ automated care plans created monthly and up to 50% faster decisions for patients in prior authorizations and claims.
EnsoData nabs $20M for AI-powered sleep apnea care
Health tech startup EnsoData developed AI-powered sleep medicine solutions to support sleep professionals in the testing, diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of sleep disorders.
The company raised $20 million in series B funding led by Questa Capital. Existing investors participated in the series B, including Zetta Venture Partners, Venture Investors Health Fund, Supermoon Capital and Inspire Medical Systems.
EnsoData will use the funding to accelerate adoption of its AI-powered sleep medicine solutions, improving the sleep care pathway. In the U.S., an estimated 54 million patients suffer from sleep apnea.
"Traditional approaches in sleep medicine have left nearly 80% of patients undiagnosed and, of the 20% that are positively diagnosed, only 1 in 2 will be successfully treated,” Justin Mortara, Ph.D., president and CEO of EnsoData said in a statement. “We need to expand patient access with simpler and more economic testing while embracing new approaches for sleep apnea therapies to improve this reality. EnsoData’s AI solutions are uniquely positioned to do both, and this Series B fundraise will allow us to rapidly scale our commercial team to deliver the next wave of AI-driven healthcare solutions.”
EnsoData's technology integrates FDA-cleared clinical AI and machine learning across the complete sleep care pathway, from diagnosis to therapy, with an emphasis on usability and interoperability that positions the company for expansion into adjacent medical specialties.
The company is scaling its commercial operations with the recent hire of Chief Commercial Officer Bobby Cockrill and plans to build a substantial U.S. sales team.
NPHub lands $20M investment for nurse practitioner clinical placement
NPHub is a digital platform matching nurse practitioner students and professionals with clinical rotation and job placements.
Founded in 2017, the company touts profitable, capital-efficient growth by efficiently matching nurse practitioner students with preceptors, or in-clinic mentors, for the clinical rotations required to graduate.
The company picked up a $20 million growth equity investment from Edison Partners, a growth equity firm. The new—and first institutional—capital comes as the business is posting record metrics, according to the company.
Nursing student growth jumped more than 100% over the last 12 months and clinical rotation placements through the platform have reached more than 10,000.
NPHub says it's the largest and only national digital platform that matches nurse practitioner students with preceptors and dramatically cuts placement times and costs.
The American Association of Medical Colleges projects a shortage of 180,000 physicians within the next decade. To offset this, the U.S. healthcare system is hiring more nurse practitioners with their numbers estimated to grow by 45% from 2021 to 2032.
These professionals face rigorous training requirements and a complex hiring process while historically having to use inefficient, manual processes. NPHub brings students, their universities and healthcare organizations modernization and support to match nurse practitioners with necessary clinical training and employment opportunities.
NPHub says it plans to use the growth capital to bolster its technology platform and growth initiatives, including developing enterprise solutions and partnering with universities and employers.
NPHub also plans to launch NPHire, a new hiring service for nurse practitioner graduates seeking full-time positions. Currently in a pilot phase, that service, which will launch in the coming months, has attracted more than 7,000 candidates and 60 employers as early adopters of its job-matching capabilities, according to the company.
Handspring Health pockets $12M for youth mental health
Handspring Health, a mental health provider focused on youth, young adults, and their families, secured $12 million in a series A round. Cobalt Ventures led the round, with participation from NextView Ventures, nvp capital, 25madison, Arkitekt Ventures, VamosVentures, Hyde Park Angels (HPA), Cornucopian Capital and others.
Two health plans also joined the round, according to the company, underscoring strong payer alignment with Handspring’s clinically rigorous and cost-effective model of care.
Handspring Health offers virtual therapy through a fully employed, expertly trained therapist workforce to help address a national shortage of qualified pediatric providers.
The startup says it invests in developing its clinicians through structured onboarding, weekly individual and group consultations, and ongoing training in evidence-based care. Handspring says the company is distinctly different from platforms that rely on gig-based networks with minimal oversight.
The company’s model includes skills-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), exposure therapy, parent coaching, and a Complex Care program designed to support high-risk youth who are often underserved, turned away from traditional outpatient services, and often unnecessarily referred to higher levels of care such as emergency departments (ED) or intensive outpatient programs (IOP).
The company touts its clinical outcomes: 96% of families report improvement in daily life of their family upon discharge, a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 82 and 84% of patients in treatment for anxiety and 79% of patients in treatment for depression saw clinical improvement, as measured by validated clinical scales at the completion of their care.
Handspring's platform consists of custom-built patient and provider portals, a homegrown AI-powered clinical scribe and a therapist matching engine.
The investment will be used to deepen clinical programs for complex patient populations and expand value-based care partnerships, the company said. Handspring also will build out its tech platform, including further development of AI tools focused on automating operations and improving outcomes of care.
Eli Health scores $12M for real-time hormone monitoring
Eli Health picked up $12 million in series A funding to accelerate the launch of its instant hormone monitoring system, called Hormometer.
The round was led by BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund, with participation from Muse Capital, TELUS Global Ventures, and other investors. The company has raised $20 million to date.
The funding will help scale production and accelerate the development of additional biomarkers.
The company says traditional hormone testing is built for snapshots—a single point in time, captured in a lab, days or weeks after symptoms show up. "But hormones shift constantly. Cortisol, for example, can fluctuate 100% in an hour. One-time tests can help, but they miss the bigger picture. What we need is a live feed," the company said in a blog post.
Eli Health developed technology to track hormones instantly using just saliva and a smartphone app. The Hormometer provides results in minutes without labs, sample shipments, or waiting. The new layer of digital health intelligence gives users a live view of their biology, providing not just a number, but context. This allows individuals to understand what’s happening in their bodies now and take immediate, informed action, according to the company.
Eli Health is launching its platform in beta with cortisol as its first key hormone. A waitlist is open for progesterone, the next hormone to launch on the platform. Subscription plans start at $8/test for a 12-month commitment.
Circulate Health closes $12M seed round for plasma exchange clinics
Longevity startup Circulate Health raised $12 million in seed funding to expand therapeutic plasma exchange service and build longevity research.
Khosla Ventures led the seed round with participation from Seaside Ventures and CSC Ventures.
The startup is focused on improve healthspan and reducing biological age. The company's patented therapeutic plasma exchange procedure separates, removes and replaces a patient's plasma to treat inflammation, improve healthspan, and address certain chronic diseases.
Circulate has been operating in stealth for the past three years, studying the benefits of TPE and its ability to improve human healthspan and address the hallmarks of again, while partnering with clinics to deliver TPE across the country and soon internationally.
Circulate Health has 24 partner clinics, across 8 states, and plans to grow its network to over 50 clinics by the end of 2025 in the U.S. and abroad.
Circulate was founded based on scientific research from geroscientist Eric Verdin, M.D., who is a co-founder of Circulate and CEO of the Buck Institute of Research on Aging. The company recently published a study that found TPE combined with intravenous immunoglobin (IVIG) reduced patients' biological age by an average of 2.6 years, as measured by multi-omics biomarkers.
Empo Health collects $7M for remote diabetic foot ulcer management
Empo Health secured $7 million in fresh funding to support the commercial launch of its at-home monitoring system to help prevent diabetic amputations and reduce healthcare costs for high-risk patients.
The funding round was led by Story Ventures, with participation from VTC Ventures, alongside existing investors including Ulu Ventures, SeaX Ventures, Arben Ventures, and Gaingels. This funding brings Empo’s capital raised to date to $15 million.
Over 20 million Americans suffer from diabetic neuropathy and are at high risk of developing diabetic foot ulcers, which consume up to $80 billion in U.S. healthcare spending annually. Without proper monitoring and care, DFUs can lead to costly disability, hospitalizations, and amputations. Most of these amputations are preventable with appropriate surveillance.
Empo’s solution combines the FDA-listed Empo Footprint imaging scale with the HIPAA-compliant Empo Remote Health Link patient monitoring service, enabling regular at-home monitoring of feet for early intervention by healthcare providers. A patient simply steps on the scale at home to generate an easily understandable full-color visual image of their feet. The image is automatically transmitted to the care team, enabling early detection and appropriate follow-up on potential issues.
In a pilot study, Empo demonstrated near-daily patient engagement and successfully helped detect early indications of ulcers in half of the patient participants.
Tombot fetches $6.1M for robotic emotional support animals
Robotics company Tombot built robotic animal companions to bring comfort and support to seniors struggling with dementia or mild cognitive impairment, as well as children and adults facing mental health challenges including anxiety, loneliness, autism, depression, PTSD, and stress.
The company collected $6.1 million in series A funding to expand Tombot’s team, finalize engineering and complete regulatory and safety certifications. Tombot says it has 16,000 pre-order and waitlist customers and the funding will help push out customer shipments of its robotic dog.
Caduceus Capital Partners led the funding round, which was backed by new and existing investors.
Co-founder and CEO Tom Stevens was inspired to develop Tombot after his mother’s Alzheimer's diagnosis led to the difficult decision to rehome her dog for safety reasons. Stevens envisioned a robotic companion that could provide the emotional connection of a pet without the responsibilities of caring for a live animal.
Tombot’s flagship product, Jennie, was designed specifically to treat the Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) and other health issues.
The robotic dog is equipped with sensors throughout her body, allowing her to perceive touch and respond with naturalistic movements and sounds, which enhances her realism and mimics the behavior of a real puppy.
The company worked with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop on the artistic design. The robotic dog was developed with the guidance of clinical experts, patients and their families, according to the company. Jennie will be used in private homes, assisted living and memory care communities, and other settings where live animals are not always safe or practical.
“Tombot is entering a high-demand, underserved market at the intersection of mental health and assistive technology,” Stevens said. “Over 300 million seniors around the world with dementia and mild cognitive impairment are unable to care for a live animal at a time when they need the companionship of a pet more than ever. Millions of other individuals suffering from mental health adversities are in a similar predicament.”
“We identified the growing need for robotic companions several years ago and believe the market is now on the brink of exponential expansion,” said Dave Vreeland, senior managing partner, Caduceus Capital Partners. in a statement. “By 2030, the U.S. is projected to have 73 million seniors—an aging population that will increasingly face challenges related to loneliness, companionship, and chronic disease management. These issues are rapidly surpassing the capacity of human caregivers alone. Tombot is uniquely positioned to lead this emerging sector and drive widespread adoption of robotic companions."