This happens because of unclear paperwork and lack of time. O’Hara, through COVID, was chief information and transformation officer at Illinois-based Springfield Clinic Medical Center. And he and his team were feverishly trying to understand why the finances of the system’s northern rural market were so bad. Data was diffuse at best and Excel files were a “wheel of death.” And at the next board meeting, due to lack of clarity, management stopped everything.
And at that point, it wasn’t just a chaotic financial problem, it was a human problem.
“Patients, for weeks and weeks later, were wondering ‘where am I going to get care now?’ ” said O’Hara. “And I was like, ‘Holy shit, this really hurts.’ They had to drive three hours to come to our main sites. And one in three Americans is in this health desert. When healthcare is closed, it’s a huge problem.
Three years later, O’Hara remains stuck in the hospital economic mess. The business rules of healthcare are being disrupted. Consider: in a “normal” business, you receive a good or service, pay for it on the spot, and move on. In healthcare, you see the doctor, there’s probably a co-pay, and then the real bill shows up month later. (And even then, the cost of the service and what the provider is paid could be different.) So, cash management for hospitals is a moving target game of fuzzy and delayed data. Paying middlemen, high labor and facility costs, and a changing political landscape add to the mix.
“It’s a huge problem that this $5 trillion industry basically operates on a 1% margin,” O’Hara said. “Hospitals are almost forecasting fog. »
O’Hara founded Translucent, an AI-native healthcare financing startup, in 2024 with this idea: Every hospital should have its own AI “financial leader” who always monitors data and offers specific suggestions. The company raised its $7 million seed round in August and has now raised its $27 million Series A, Fortune exclusively learned. GV led the round, with participation from NEA, FPV Ventures and Virtue.
“Imagine: It’s 9 p.m. and I have to pull seven different systems and then put them into Excel,” O’Hara said. “Then you need to include your company’s business rules and analyze what you need to do tomorrow. Ultimately, there aren’t enough people to do it daily.”
This is especially true in rural health systems, which often face financial and staffing challenges. When it comes to finances, it’s difficult to find and budget for the staff needed to do this work manually on a moment-to-moment basis.
“(Translucent) generates reports that I no longer need to do,” said John Everett, chief financial officer of Colorado-based Wray Community District Hospital and Clinic and a Translucent customer. “I used to spend 40 to 60 hours creating these spreadsheets, now it takes two minutes. We’re making decisions in real time, instead of making decisions six months to a year behind schedule.”
These delays can be costly, not only financially but also humanly.
“Health care is failing financially,” O’Hara said. “You run your business in the rearview mirror. »
See you tomorrow,
Allie Garfinkle
X: @agarfinks
E-mail: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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RISK CAPITAL
– FRIEND Laboratoriesan AI lab based in Paris, France, has raised $1.03 billion in funding. Cathay Innovation, Greycroft, Hiro Capital, excluding tax CapitalAnd Bezos Expeditions led the round.
– Legoraa Stockholm, Sweden-based collaborative AI platform for legal work has raised $550 million in Series D funding. Accelerate led the round and was joined by existing investors Reference, Bessemer Adventure Partners, General Catalystand others.
– Chowbusa Chicago, Illinois-based developer of point-of-sale systems, marketing solutions and AI-based tools for culturally-rooted restaurants has raised $81 million in funding. Prism Capital And LEFT way Capital led the round and were joined by others.
– Juice boxan AI-powered recruiting platform based in San Francisco, raised $80 million in Series B funding. summer time Global led the tour and was joined by Sequoia, Coatue, Yes Combinator, NFDGAnd Verified Capital.
– Jazza New York-based data loss prevention platform, raised $61 million in seed and Series A rounds. Glilot Capital Partners And Team8 led the tour and were joined by Ten eleven companies, Merlin Businessesand others.
– Difyan agentic AI workflow creator based in Menlo Park, California, raised $30 million in pre-Series A funding. HSG led the tour and was joined by GL Businesses, Alt-Alpha Capital, 5 years Capitaland others.
– PacteFia New York-based private credit operations platform, raised $25 million in Series A funding. 7RIDGE Ecosystem Impact Funds led the tour and was joined by Vestige Businesses.
– Sandbanka New York-based developer of a first AI ring voice and conversational notes app, has raised $23 million in Series A funding. Adjacent And Relationship led the round.
– Outpostan e-commerce infrastructure developer based in London, UK and New York to sell globally, has raised $17.5 million in Series A funding. Ribbit led the round and was joined by existing investor Better Tomorrow Businesses and others.
– Unreasonable Laboratoriesa developer of AI tools for knowledge discovery based in Palo Alto, California and Cambridge, Massachusetts, has raised $13.5 million in funding. Playground Global led the tour and was joined by AIX Businesses, E14 FundsAnd MS&AD companies.
– Amigo AIa New York-based platform for creating and training patient-facing clinical agents, has raised $11 million in Series A funding. Madrona led the tour and was joined by Optum Ventures.
– Deposita software development platform based in Beaverton, Oregon, raised $10 million in Series A funding from Felicis, Y combinerAnd Pioneer Funds led the round.
– Lux Eternitya Denver, Colorado-based space satellite developer has raised $10 million in seed funding. Konvoy led the tour and was joined by Decisive Indicate, cubit Capital, Wave Functionand others.
– RemitianA Miami, Florida-based AI-powered remittance platform has raised $7 million in seed funding from Ryan Lazanis and others.
– AgentMaila San Francisco-based developer of email inboxes for AI agents, has raised $6 million in seed funding. General catalyst led the tour and was joined by Y combiner, Phosphorus Capitaland angel investors.
– Capturea New York-based developer of AI infrastructure for enterprise mobile applications that instantly verifies the quality and accuracy of user-submitted photos, has raised $6 million in seed funding. Rally Businesses led the tour and was joined by Of course Valley Businesses.
– Nyada Birmingham, Alabama-based developer of AI software for wastewater treatment operations has raised $1.3 million in pre-seed funding. Boost venture capital led the tour and was joined by Draper Associates, Halogen Businessesand others.
PRIVATE-HORSE RIDING
– Ardian agreed to acquire a majority stake in Casafortea self-storage company based in Varese, Italy. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– ATISa holding company Thompson Street Capital Partnersacquired Sober Engineeringan elevator and escalator consulting company based in Toronto, Canada. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– B.V. Investment Partners acquired a majority stake in Moxé Healtha clinical data exchange platform based in Madison, Wisconsin. Financial terms were not disclosed.
OUTPUTS
– Google acquired Cut Powera data center company based in Beaverton, Oregon, Green belt Capital Partners, TPGAnd Climate Adaptive Infrastructure for $4.75 billion.
– Morinaga & Cie. agreed to acquire My/Mochi ice creama mochi ice cream brand based in Los Angeles, California, from Lake view Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
– Small Group Businessesa San Francisco-based venture capital firm, has raised $114 million for its third fund focused on companies blending science and technology.
– Scout Businessesan Austin, Texas-based venture capital firm has raised $125 million for its fifth fund focused on emerging technology companies.
PEOPLE
– Lerate Hippeaua New York-based venture capital firm, hired Madeleine Goldberg as an investor. Previously she was with Preview Partners.
– Uprising Investorsa Darien, Conn.-based private equity firm hired Evan Thirty as strategy director. Previously he was with Covista.