The University of Tennessee Research Foundation’s (UTRF) Accelerate Fund announced its second investment of $150,000 to VisualizAI, a pioneering AI startup focused on transforming healthcare claims processing.
Launched in 2023, the Accelerate Fund offers pre-seed and seed investment to support high-potential startups that bring the University of Tennessee’s (UT) innovations to the market. And previously, the fund invested in Orion Therapeutics, a biotechnology startup developing next-generation RNA medicines through a novel drug delivery system.
VisualizAI was co-founded by Jian Huang, a professor at UT Knoxville’s Tickle College of Engineering, and Mac Bartine (its CEO). The company aims to commercialize UT’s AI-driven data visualization and analytics platform, which enhances knowledge capture, efficiency, and accuracy in data-intensive professional settings.
UT Knoxville’s Chancellor’s Innovation Fund and UTRF’s Entrepreneurial Fellows Program were essential in supporting Huang and his UT team, helping to de-risk the technology and develop a minimum viable product.
At the heart of VisualizAI’s offering is ClaimsAgent, an AI system designed to give health care providers a strategic tool in claims processing. ClaimsAgent can analyze thousands of claims, identifying patterns in denials and underpayments like missing records or coding errors and recommending corrective actions.
Denied and underpaid insurance claims pose a significant challenge in health care, obstructing providers’ earned revenue and impacting their financial stability. And in 2023, according to federal transparency data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, insurance companies denied 19% of in-network claims and 37% of out-of-network claims.
VisualizAI looks to raise a seed round of $500,000 to $1 million to accelerate its growth.
KEY QUOTES:
“VisualizAI is a great example of how UT-driven research can lead to real-world solutions that improve efficiency, accuracy and outcomes in critical industries like health care. We’re proud to support visionary faculty and startups like this through UTRF and the Accelerate Fund as part of our commitment to driving progress across Tennessee and beyond.”
– University of Tennessee System President Randy Boyd
“These funding opportunities provided a platform for us to deploy our research in the real world and validate the most compelling use cases. We’re in an exciting position—our platform has matured and already has pilot customers.”
“Through AI, ClaimsAgent provides diagnostic, descriptive, prescriptive, and predictive support for health care claims processing. Artificial intelligence is a powerful ally—doing tedious jobs at a higher volume and more efficiently than staff teams of many healthcare providers.”
– Jian Huang
“We’re thrilled about the momentum VisualizAI is building. This seed round investment from UTRF’s Accelerate Fund is pivotal in demonstrating the value offered to investors in our seed round and moving us forward in both our product and growth initiatives.”
– Mac Bartine, CEO of VisualizAI
“UTRF is proud to invest in a startup using AI to transform health care claims processing. Our investment will enable VisualizAI to advance its pilot trials, validate its technology, and demonstrate its impact to health care providers.”
– Maha Krishnamurthy, UTRF president
