- AI-powered healthcare navigation platform Buoy Health announced it has raised $37.5 million in Series C funding
AI-powered healthcare navigation platform Buoy Health announced it has raised $37.5 million in Series C funding. Cigna Ventures and Humana led the funding round and they were joined by Optum Ventures, WR Hambrecht + Co, and Trustbridge Partners. So far, Buoy has raised $66.5 million.
Buoy will be using the proceeds to further buildout its IP with respect to artificial intelligence and other technologies as well as growing the Buoy team. And the funding will advance Buoy’s clinical and insurance-based navigation capabilities to help move the individual to a more consumer-friendly healthcare journey.
As for the Series C close, Buoy has helped nearly one million Americans assess symptoms and locate the best places for them to seek care in their community during the COVID-19 pandemic. And as one of the first digital health companies in the U.S. to respond to the pandemic, Buoy was an early leader in connecting individuals to care at the right time, saving more than 29,764 medical professionals’ hours (or 1,240 days).
Buoy also launched Back With Care, an employer platform that provides health resource navigation, risk assessment and personalized guidance for the transition back into the workplace for employers and employees across the country. And with numerous tech companies and large healthcare organizations launching consumer-centric offerings to tackle this issue, Buoy Health has been remaining committed to humanizing the healthcare journey and assessing the COVID-19 risk in connection with getting back to physical offices.
In order to support the company’s expansion into more advanced healthcare journey support, the Series C funding will be used to support hiring and research and development initiatives.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are honored by the continued support and commitment in Buoy from many of the industry’s most influential insurers and are proud to be working with a group of investors that truly believe in our mission to make healthcare more personalized and convenient.”
“Buoy was founded on the idea that turning to the internet for answers when you are sick can be overwhelming, confusing, and inefficient. I’m proud of the work we’ve done to help more than 9 million individuals make more informed decisions for their health, and the tools we have built to help consumers and employers navigate COVID-19. From the moment an individual has questions about their health, to ensuring they get the support they need as they seek care, Buoy will serve as the sidewalk to every possible front door of care, navigating the individual through their healthcare journey.”
— Andrew Le, MD, CEO and co-founder of Buoy Health
“We remain focused on bringing highest value solutions that connect customers to the right care, at the right place, at the right time. Buoy’s ‘first-step’ digital actions that triage symptoms and provide next steps for care do just that. Since the start of COVID-19, we’ve been able to support up to 140,000 COVID assessments and look forward to continuing our partnership to help employers manage safe returns to the office.”
— Tom Richards, global lead, strategy and business development, Cigna
“Buoy has proven that AI can help better connect the health system to enable a more consumer-friendly healthcare experience for patients. We are excited to support Buoy as it continues to build out its differentiated AI-powered navigation platform.”
— Laura Veroneau, healthcare investor at Optum Ventures
