California startup Cardinal Analytx Solutions has closed a $22 million Series B funding round led by venture capitalist John Doerr. GuideWell Mutual Holding Corporation, Blue Shield California and Premera Blue Cross participated in the round as well.
The company also announced that Doerr, who serves as chairman of Kleiner Perkins, will join its board of directors.
The $22 million will be used to support hiring efforts and continued innovation.
Cardinal Analytx leverages machine learning to help predict which people are likely to become high-cost members before a high-cost health event occurs. Its system assesses individuals’ likelihood to benefit from an intervention. Cardinal then works with clinician teams to coordinate interventions that boost the quality of care and contain costs.
“The new growth funding positions us to capitalize on our early commercial traction and robust pipeline,” said Cardinal Analytx CEO Linda Hand in a statement. “We expect to quickly extend our leadership in the use of AI to accurately predict rising risk and future costs, and deliver actionable insights.”
The startup was founded by two Stanford professors: Arnie Milstein and Nigam Shah. Its main office is in Palo Alto, but it also has an office in San Francisco.
Earlier this year, the company partnered with Premera Blue Cross, a health plan based in the Pacific Northwest. The plan first teamed up with Cardinal Analytx to take part in the design and validation of Cardinal’s system. After a pilot, Premera decided to deploy the solution as well as additional risk prediction models it helped design.
“Cardinal Analytx is leading the pack in predictive analytics for healthcare payers and providers,” Doerr said in a statement. “Cardinal uses machine learning to create advanced, early-warning predictions and interventions to address health conditions early — when they matter most.”
Another startup working in the predictive analytics space is KenSci, which has a platform that brings in data from various sources — EMRs, claims, pharmacies and wearables, to name a few — to pinpoint patterns that help health systems assess risks related to care, costs and operations. Organizations can use KenSci’s tool for various reasons, including chronic kidney disease prediction, sepsis prediction and emergency department utilization prediction. In February, the company raised $22 million in a Series B round led by Polaris Partners. Ignition Partners, Osage University Partners, Mindset Ventures and UL Ventures also participated.
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