Hippocratic AI has secured $141 million in Series B funding led by Kleiner Perkins. The investment catapults the company's valuation to $1.64 billion, marking its entry into unicorn territory just nine months after its Series A round.
Key Points:
- The Series B round was led by Kleiner Perkins with participation from notable investors like a16z, NVIDIA, and General Catalyst, bringing Hippocratic AI’s total funding to $278 million.
- Their new AI Agent App Store allows clinicians to co-develop tailored AI agents for tasks like patient education, chronic care management, and EHR assistance.
- Hippocratic AI’s Polaris 2.0 model achieved safety parity with human clinicians, a milestone enabling its widespread deployment.
Founded in May 2023, Hippocratic AI has rapidly gained traction for its focus on non-diagnostic healthcare applications. Its generative AI models are designed to assist in areas like medication onboarding, hospital policy queries, and patient wellness coaching.
For Munjal Shah, CEO of Hippocratic AI, the path to this milestone has been methodical. Unlike many AI healthcare startups focusing on administrative tasks or ambient dictation, Shah's company took on a more ambitious challenge: patient-facing interactions. "We know it's harder, we know you have a higher threshold of safety, but we think there's a bigger impact you can make in healthcare if you do that," Shah tells Fierce Healthcare.
The company's approach to safety has attracted major healthcare providers. Organizations including Cincinnati Children's, OhioHealth, and Universal Health Services have not only become clients but also development partners, helping ensure the AI meets clinical standards before deployment.
Along with the funding news, the company has also announced a new AI Agent App Store where "licensed clinicians can collaborate with Hippocratic AI to design and shape AI agents based on use cases they develop and earn revenue from their use by customers."
These AI agents provide a scalable solution to healthcare’s persistent staffing shortages. “We believe clinicians know best,” said Shah, emphasizing collaboration with healthcare professionals as a cornerstone of the company’s mission.
Hippocratic AI’s rapid growth has been marked by several milestones. In 2024, the company secured partnerships with 23 healthcare organizations, deployed agents for 16 clients, and completed over 200,000 patient interactions, earning an average satisfaction rating of 8.7 out of 10. Its proprietary Polaris architecture has been pivotal, scaling the model to 3.7 trillion parameters while maintaining safety and reliability standards.
The fresh capital will fuel Hippocratic AI's expansion beyond U.S. borders into Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. The company is also broadening its reach into pharmaceutical and insurance sectors, adding to its existing suite of services that include preoperative care, chronic care management, and wellness coaching.
The Big Picture: With healthcare organizations worldwide grappling with staffing shortages, Hippocratic AI's growth trajectory suggests a shifting landscape in patient care delivery. As these AI agents take on more non-diagnostic tasks, the question isn't just about replacing human workers – it's about creating what Shah calls an "abundance of healthcare" to meet growing care demands.