Like so many people with busy 9-to-5s, high school teacher Suzanne Grinberg has a scheduling problem: By the time she has a free moment in her day to call her doctor to make an appointment, the doctor’s office is already closed.
So, when she recently called her dermatologist before business hours, Grinberg expected to leave a voicemail—but instead got a pleasant surprise. “At 5:30 AM, when I was putting on my makeup to go to work, I was able to make my appointment,” she said.
Grinberg’s dermatologist had started using a voice AI system called Assort Health, a startup building specialty-specific agents for healthcare. The company was founded in 2023 by Jeff Liu and Jon Wang, who together spent two years getting to know the healthcare system before the startup picked up steam.
“What’s really interesting about our space is that voice AI and LLMs have actually been around for a while,” said Liu, who is the co-CEO. “But healthcare is so complicated. They have binders, spreadsheets full of these really complicated rules, and that’s prevented automation from helping providers—despite them really needing help.”
Assort, which to date has collected approximately 42 million patient interactions on its platform, raised its $22 million Series A in April, with Term Sheet breaking the news. They’re now back, just a few months later: Assort has raised a $76 million Series B, led by Lightspeed, Fortune can exclusively report. First Round and Chemistry, which led the Series A, returned as investors for this round and were joined by Felicis, A*, Liquid 2 Ventures, and Quiet. This brings Assort’s total capital raised to date to $102 million, and to one doctor, the tech solves a key business problem.
“The problem in any business, if you don’t have individuals working at the top of their license, is that you’re leaving money on the table,” said Dr. Titus Abraham, physician at Annapolis Internal Medicine, a practice using Assort. “They’re doing things that can be done better by someone else or by a different system…I shouldn’t be signing paperwork or taking calls all day.”
The end game, says cofounder and co-CEO Wang, is “moving from a reactive system where you as a patient have to schedule a primary care appointment six months out, to a system that’s more proactive and preventative.” For example, Wang says, “if you know after you get your cortisone injection in your right knee, you need to schedule another appointment three months out, we’re going to have an agent that’s going to be there for you, helping make sure you get your time booked right.”
It’s a lofty goal, to be sure, and not one any single company can accomplish in a system as labyrinthine and layered as U.S. healthcare. All the same, this is a moment characterized by a unique level of optimism (and venture dollars) flowing into a wave of young startups at the intersection of healthcare and AI. Lightspeed partner Galym Imanbayev attributes this momentum to “the surface area by which technology and AI can impact healthcare [having] dramatically expanded…leading to unprecedented ROI demonstrated tangibly by customers.” Olympic gold medal speedskater and Assort investor Apolo Ohno puts it more directly: “The radical speed at which AI is transforming industries right now is not debatable.”
For Assort’s Liu, the ultimate value is in the patient experience: “It’s a painful process to get access to care. And when we solve this critical problem in a way patients and providers haven’t seen before, it’s this magical moment.”
See you tomorrow,
Allie Garfinkle
X: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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Venture Deals
– Alvys, a Solana Beach, Calif.-based developer of AI technology for freight operations, raised $40 million in Series B funding. RTP Global led the round and was joined by Alpha Square Group and others.
– OXCCU, an Oxford, U.K.-based sustainable aviation fuel company, raised $28 million in Series B funding from International Airlines Group, Safran Corporate Ventures, Orlen, Aramco Ventures, and others.
– Paid, a London, U.K.-based monetization and cost tracking platform for AI agents, raised $21.6 million in seed funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and was joined by FUSE and existing investor EQT Ventures.
– Lexroom.ai, a Milan, Italy-based developer of legal AI software, raised $19 million in Series A funding. Base10 Partners led the round.
– Mondoo, a San Francisco-based developer of a vulnerability management platform for agentic AI, raised $17.5 million in funding. HV Capital led the round and was joined by T.Capital and existing investors Atomico, Firstminute Capital, and System.One.
– Goodfit, a London, U.K.-based data platform for go-to-market strategy, raised $13 million in funding. Notion Capital led the round and was joined by Salica Investments, Inovia Capital, Robin Capital, Common Magic, and Andrena Ventures.
– Neura Health, a NYC-based virtual neurology clinic, raised $11.4 million in Series A funding. The American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Venture Fund led the round and was joined by Norwest Venture Partners, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Esplanade Ventures, and others.
– Confido Health, a New York City-based agentic AI platform for health care operations, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Blume Ventures led the round and was joined by Schema Ventures, Vicus Ventures, and others.
– InOrbit.AI, a Mountain View, Calif.-based AI-powered robot orchestration platform, raised $10 million. L’ATTITUDE Ventures and Globant Ventures led the round.
– Supernova, a Dover, Del.-based developer of an AI-powered collaborative workspace for product teams, raised $9.2 million in Series A funding. Taiwania Capital led the round and was joined by J&T Ventures, Reflex Capital, and existing investors.
– Arqh, a Zurich, Switzerland-based AI company developing a decision-intelligence engine for complex operations, raised $3.8 million in pre-seed funding. Founderful led the round and was joined by Merantix Capital.
Private Equity
– AAi Labels & Decals, backed by Portrait Capital, acquired Sticker Ranch, a San Antonio, Texas-based labels and stickers provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– Northrim Horizon acquired ACG Systems, an Annapolis, M.D.-based systems integrator and technical service provider for wireless communication systems. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– Towne Park, backed by Greenbriar Equity Group, acquired Frogparking, a Palmerston, New Zealand-based parking systems company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Funds + Funds of Funds
– Concept Ventures, a London, U.K.-based venture capital firm, raised $88 million for its second fund focused on pre-seed companies.
People
– GV, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, promoted Vidu Shanmugarajah to general partner.
– Turnspire Capital Partners, a New York City-based private equity firm, promoted Ahdiv Nathan to principal.
Introducing the Fortune AIQ 50 ranking
Today, we published the Fortune AIQ 50, a new ranking that evaluates how Fortune 500 companies are actually deploying AI, and how technology leaders value those investments relative to industry peers. The ranking is a record of how 18 sectors across the Fortune 500, including financials, health care, and retailing, are utilizing AI to personalize customer experiences, provide groundbreaking data analysis, optimize supply chains, and more. Explore the list, and catch up on our ongoing Fortune AIQ series.
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