Ambience Healthcare Secures $70M Funding for AI Assistant, Backed by OpenAI and Kleiner Perkins

Artificial intelligence is increasingly shaping the healthcare landscape, and startups bridging these domains are garnering significant attention from customers and investors.

In the latest development, Ambience Healthcare, which has developed an advanced “operating system” tailored for healthcare organizations to streamline administrative tasks for clinicians, has secured a substantial $70 million in funding to fuel its expansion efforts. 

Currently focused on the U.S. market, Ambience Healthcare serves various ambulatory specialities such as cardiology, oncology, paediatrics, and ENT, addressing the intricate clinical needs in outpatient medical services.

While specific customer and usage data remain undisclosed, Ambience Healthcare boasts a notable clientele, including UCSF, Memorial Hermann Health System, John Muir Health, The Oncology Institute, GI Alliance, Midi Health, and Eventus WholeHealth.

The participation of prominent investors in this funding round, including Kleiner Perkins, OpenAI’s Startup Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, and Optum Ventures, underscores the company’s traction in the market. 

This Series B funding round brings Ambience Healthcare’s total funding to $100 million, although the exact valuation remains undisclosed.

The origins of Ambience Healthcare trace back to its co-founders’ shared experiences at MIT and personal encounters with medical traumas.

Michael Ng, the CEO, and Nikhil Buduma, the chief scientist, embarked on a journey to address the complexities of patient and clinical processes following their respective health challenges. Ng’s injury catalyzed the reevaluation of life priorities, prompting him to delve into issues crucial to him.

This experience led to the founding of Remedy Health, a previous medical startup focused on leveraging AI for clinical diagnosis, which unfortunately shuttered in 2020 due to funding constraints.

Ambience Healthcare now tackles a critical aspect of clinician workflow: managing extensive administrative tasks essential for patient care.

Administrative burdens loom large in the U.S., where healthcare intricately intersects with financial matters and legal considerations. Ambience Healthcare’s platform caters to the diverse data points clinicians encounter during patient interactions by covering a myriad of ambulatory specialities.

Its products include AutoScribe for generating notes, AutoCDI for analyzing past conversations and ensuring coding accuracy, AutoRefer for specialist handoffs, AutoAVS for post-visit summaries, and soon-to-launch AutoPrep for appointment preparation.

While Ambience Healthcare refrains from providing diagnoses presently, it remains open to exploring diagnostic functionalities in the future, drawing from the co-founders’ expertise and industry trends. 

Despite operating in a burgeoning field, Ambience Healthcare faces stiff competition from other AI-driven healthcare startups, such as Corti and Nabla, which have also attracted substantial investments.

However, the robust interest in AI’s potential within healthcare sustains optimism among investors. Brad Lightcap, COO of OpenAI and manager of the OpenAI Startup Fund expressed confidence in Ambience Healthcare’s vision, highlighting healthcare as a promising domain for AI-driven innovations.

As the company continues to refine its offerings and navigate a dynamic market landscape, its strategic partnerships and relentless focus on improving clinician workflows position it for further growth and impact in the healthcare sector.