Adds analyst comment in paragraph 10
By Pritam Biswas
Nov 3 (Reuters) - Hippocratic AI raised $126 million in its latest funding round led by Avenir Growth, it said on Monday, valuing the healthcare company at $3.5 billion and underscoring venture capital's strong interest in artificial intelligence-integrated companies.
Private funding has remained strong, as companies keep getting valued in billions by startup investors looking to capture the AI rush.
Global venture funding rose 38% year-on-year to $97 billion in the third quarter. 46% of all global venture funding in the third quarter went towards AI companies.
The round also saw participation from other investors, including Google's growth fund CapitalG, General Catalyst, A16z, Kleiner Perkins and Universal Health Services, among others.
"Their (Hippocratic AI's) rapid growth is a testament to the demand for solutions to our industry's labor and patient access crisis," said Julie Yoo, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, in a statement.
The latest round — Series C — comes after the company raised $141 million at a valuation of $1.64 billion earlier in the year. The funds from the latest round were raised to fuel expansion through mergers, product development and international growth.
The Series C brings Hippocratic's total raise to $404 million.
Hippocratic AI was co-founded by CEO Munjal Shah alongside a group of physicians, hospital administrators, healthcare professionals and AI researchers from El Camino Health, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Microsoft MSFT.O, Google GOOGL.O and NVIDIA NVDA.O.
The company has developed generative AI agents for healthcare and has partnered with over 50 healthcare organizations, such as Cleveland Clinic, Northwestern Medicine, Ochsner Health, Moffitt Cancer Center, University Hospitals and others.
"The company's near-doubling in value in less than a year, fueled by partnerships with over 50 major health systems, reflects extraordinary commercial traction and market fit," said Dimitri Zabelin, senior AI analyst at PitchBook.
GenAI is being deployed to boost operational efficiency across sectors, from banking and healthcare to industrial production.
(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
((Pritam.Biswas@thomsonreuters.com))