Apella, a health technology company focused on operating room operations, announced it has raised $80 million in Series B financing, combining equity and venture debt, as it scales an ambient AI platform that uses computer vision to automate key surgical workflow data and feed it back into hospital systems. The round was led by HighlandX and included returning investors Vensana Capital, Casdin Capital, PFM Health Sciences, Upside Partnership, and Operator Partners. New investors in the financing included K2 HealthVentures, OpAmp Capital and Houston Methodist, which is also one of Apella’s health system customers. As part of the round, HighlandX partner Corey Mulloy joined Apella’s board.
Apella positions its technology as an “ambient video intelligence” layer for busy procedural environments, starting with the operating room. The company said its platform uses computer vision and machine learning to automatically collect and identify up to 14 surgical case events, and then autonomously write new data back to the electronic health record. By reducing manual documentation and improving situational awareness around case progress, Apella argues it can help hospitals eliminate delays, improve room utilization, and free staff to focus on patient care.
The company said its customer base has moved beyond pilots, with health systems expanding Apella’s products to enterprise deployments. Apella cited an average 5% increase in surgical volume among hospitals using its platform, a metric it framed as capacity unlocked through better coordination, scheduling and operational efficiency.
Houston Methodist, a nine-hospital system, participated in the Series B and has been one of Apella’s largest deployments to date. Apella said Houston Methodist has rolled out the technology across more than 200 operating rooms after initially piloting it in 36 rooms, using the platform to measure the impact on both clinical and operational workflows.
Beyond the operating room, Apella said its technology is now being used across additional procedural areas, including interventional radiology, cardiology and endoscopy, as hospitals look for consistent operational visibility across multiple departments that share staffing, space and scheduling constraints.
Apella also highlighted a recent expansion of its product suite with a module called Horizon, which it said provides more accurate case duration data and utilization predictions. The goal, the company said, is to help hospitals optimize case scheduling and maximize resource capacity before the day begins, when small timing errors can cascade into delays, overtime and cancellations.
The financing arrives amid broader interest in “ambient” AI tools in healthcare—systems designed to capture signals from real-world clinical environments and automate administrative work without requiring clinicians to change how they operate. Apella said it was named to Fast Company’s list of the Most Innovative Companies of 2025 in the healthcare category, which it cited as validation of its approach as it pushes deeper into large health system deployments.
KEY QUOTES:
“Ambient AI is transforming healthcare. We have applied this technology to the most critical part of the health system: the operating room. Our customers have expanded beyond the pilot phase, bringing Apella’s product suite to enterprise scale. In doing so, health systems are unlocking additional capacity to serve more patients, faster.”
David Schummers, Co-Founder and CEO, Apella
“The depth at which hospital staff are adopting Apella and incorporating it in their everyday workflows is exciting. Health technology — even when it delivers hard ROI — rarely becomes such an integral part of providers’ day-to-day or a problem-solver for health systems.”
Corey Mulloy, HighlandX; Apella Board Member
“We saw the technology’s impact on our clinical and operation systems during our initial 36-room pilot and have now scaled the technology enterprise-wide.”
Roberta Schwartz, Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer, Houston Methodist
