It happens via blurry paperwork and running out of time. O\u2019Hara, through COVID, was chief information and transformation officer at Illinois-based medical center Springfield Clinic. And he and his team were feverishly trying to figure out why the financials of the system\u2019s northern rural market were so wildly off. Data was diffuse at best, and Excel files were \u201cwheel of death-ing.\u201d And come the next board meeting, lacking clarity, leadership shut it all down.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And by that time, it wasn\u2019t just a chaotic financial problem, it was a human problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatients, for weeks and weeks later, were saying \u2018where am I going to get care now?\u2019\u201d said O\u2019Hara. \u201cAnd I was like, \u2018holy crap, this is really painful.\u2019 They had to drive three hours to come to our main sites. And one in three Americans are in this health desert. When care gets shut down, it\u2019s a huge problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three years later, O\u2019Hara remains entrenched in the messy economics of hospitals. Healthcare business rules run upside down. Consider: In a \u201cnormal\u201d business, you receive a good or service, pay for it there, move on. In healthcare, you see the doctor, there\u2019s probably a copay, and then the real bill shows up months later. (And even then, what the service cost and what the provider gets paid could be different.) So, cash management for hospitals is a moving-target-game of fuzzy, delayed data. Payer middlemen, high labor and facilities costs, and a politically-shifting landscape add to the mix.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a massive problem, that this $5 trillion industry is essentially operating at a 1% margin,\u201d said O\u2019Hara. \u201cHospitals are almost forecasting into a fog.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Hara founded Translucent, an AI-native healthcare finance startup, in 2024 with this idea\u2014that every hospital should have its own AI \u201cfinancial leader\u201d that always monitors data and offers specific suggestions. The company raised its $7 million seed round in August, and now has raised its $27 million Series A, Fortune has exclusively learned. GV led the round, with participation from NEA, FPV Ventures, and Virtue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cImagine: It\u2019s 9 PM, and I have to pull from seven different systems, then put it into Excel,\u201d said O\u2019Hara. \u201cThen, you have to include your company\u2019s business rules and run an analysis of what you should do tomorrow. Ultimately, there\u2019s not enough people to do that daily.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is especially true in rural health systems, often pressured by financial and workforce challenges. When it comes to finances, it\u2019s hard to find and budget the staff to do this work manually at every turn.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Translucent] generates reports that I don\u2019t have to do anymore,\u201d said John Everett, chief financial officer at Colorado-based Wray Community District Hospital and Clinic, and a Translucent customer. \u201cI used to spend 40 to 60 hours building those spreadsheets, now that takes two minutes. We\u2019re making real-time decisions, as opposed to making decisions late by six months to a year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those delays can be costly, not just in the financial but human sense.<\/p>\n
\u201cHealthcare is failing financially,\u201d said O\u2019Hara. \u201cYou\u2019re running your business in the rearview mirror.\u201d<\/p>\n
See you tomorrow,<\/p>\n
Allie Garfinkle Submit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today\u2019s newsletter. Subscribe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n VENTURE CAPITAL<\/p>\n – AMI<\/b> Labs<\/b><\/a>, a Paris, France-based AI lab, raised $1.03 billion in funding. Cathay<\/b> Innovation<\/b>, Greycroft<\/b>, Hiro<\/b> Capital<\/b>, HV<\/b> Capital<\/b>, and Bezos<\/b> Expeditions<\/b> led the round.<\/p>\n – Legora<\/b><\/a>, a Stockholm, Sweden-based collaborative AI platform for legal work, raised $550 million in Series D funding. Accel<\/b> led the round and was joined by existing investors Benchmark<\/b>, Bessemer<\/b> Venture<\/b> Partners<\/b>, General<\/b> Catalyst<\/b>, and others.<\/p>\n – Chowbus<\/b><\/a>, a Chicago, Ill.-based developer of POS systems, marketing solutions, and AI-powered tools for culturally-rooted restaurants, raised $81 million in funding. Prysm<\/b> Capital<\/b> and Left<\/b> Lane<\/b> Capital<\/b> led the round and were joined by others.<\/p>\n – Juicebox<\/b><\/a>, a San Francisco-based AI-powered recruiting platform, raised $80 million in Series B funding. DST<\/b> Global<\/b> led the round and was joined by Sequoia<\/b>, Coatue<\/b>, Y<\/b> Combinator<\/b>, NFDG<\/b>, and Verified<\/b> Capital<\/b>.<\/p>\n – Jazz<\/b><\/a>, a New York City-based data loss prevention platform, raised $61 million across seed and Series A rounds. Glilot<\/b> Capital<\/b> Partners<\/b> and Team8<\/b> led the round and were joined by Ten Eleven Ventures<\/b>, Merlin<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, and others.<\/p>\n – Dify<\/b><\/a>, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based agentic AI workflow builder, raised $30 million in pre-Series A funding. HSG<\/b> led the round and was joined by GL<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, Alt-Alpha<\/b> Capital<\/b>, 5Y<\/b> Capital<\/b>, and others.\u00a0<\/p>\n – PactFi<\/b><\/a>, a New York City-based private credit operations platform, raised $25 million in Series A funding. 7RIDGE\u2019s<\/b> Ecosystem<\/b> Impact<\/b> Fund<\/b> led the round and was joined by Vestigo<\/b> Ventures<\/b>.<\/p>\n – Sandbar<\/b><\/a>, a New York City-based developer of a voice first AI ring and conversational notes app, raised $23 million in Series A funding. Adjacent<\/b> and Kindred<\/b> led the round.<\/p>\n – Outpost<\/b><\/a>, a London, U.K. and New York City-based developer of ecommerce infrastructure for selling globally, raised $17.5 million in Series A funding. Ribbit<\/b> led the round and was joined by existing investor Better<\/b> Tomorrow<\/b> Ventures<\/b> and others.<\/p>\n – Unreasonable<\/b> Labs<\/b><\/a>, a Palo Alto, Calif. and Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of AI tools for knowledge discovery, raised $13.5 million in funding. Playground<\/b> Global<\/b> led the round and was joined by AIX<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, E14<\/b> Fund<\/b>, and MS&AD Ventures<\/b>.<\/p>\n – Amigo AI<\/b><\/a>, a New York City-based platform for building and training patient-facing clinical agents, raised $11 million in Series A funding. Madrona<\/b> led the round and was joined by Optum Ventures<\/b>.<\/p>\n – Depot<\/b><\/a>, a Beaverton, Ore.-based software development platform, raised $10 million in Series A funding from Felicis<\/b>, Y Combinator<\/b>, and Pioneer<\/b> Fund<\/b> led the round.\u00a0<\/p>\n – Lux<\/b> Aeterna<\/b><\/a>, a Denver, Colo.-based space satellite developer, raised $10 million in seed funding. Konvoy<\/b> led the round and was joined by Decisive<\/b> Point<\/b>, Cubit<\/b> Capital<\/b>, Wave<\/b> Function<\/b>, and others.<\/p>\n – <\/b>Remitian<\/b><\/a>, a Miami, Fla.-based AI-powered remittance platform, raised $7 million in seed funding from Ryan<\/b> Lazanis<\/b> and others.<\/p>\n – AgentMail<\/b><\/a>, a San Francisco-based developer of email inboxes for AI agents, raised $6 million in seed funding. General Catalyst <\/b>led the round and was joined by Y Combinator<\/b>, Phosphor<\/b> Capital<\/b>, and angel investors.<\/p>\n – Captur<\/b><\/a>, a New York City\u2011based developer of AI infrastructure for enterprise mobile apps that instantly verifies user-submitted photos for quality and accuracy, raised $6 million in seed funding. Rally<\/b> Ventures<\/b> led the round and was joined by Sure<\/b> Valley<\/b> Ventures<\/b>.<\/p>\n – Nyad<\/b><\/a>, a Birmingham, Ala.-based developer of AI software for wastewater operations, raised $1.3 million in pre-seed funding. Boost VC<\/b> led the round and was joined by Draper<\/b> Associates<\/b>, Halogen<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, and others.<\/p>\n PRIVATE EQUITY<\/p>\n – Ardian<\/b> agreed to acquire a majority stake in Casaforte<\/b><\/a>, a Varese, Italy-based self-storage company. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n – ATIS<\/b>, a portfolio company of Thompson<\/b> Street<\/b> Capital<\/b> Partners<\/b>, acquired Soberman<\/b> Engineering<\/b><\/a>, a Toronto, Canada-based elevator and escalator consulting company. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n – BV<\/b> Investment<\/b> Partners<\/b> acquired a majority stake in Moxe<\/b> Health<\/b><\/a>, a Madison, Wisc.-based clinical data exchange platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n EXITS<\/p>\n – Google<\/b> acquired Intersect<\/b> Power<\/b><\/a>, a Beaverton, Ore.-based data center company, from Greenbelt<\/b> Capital<\/b> Partners<\/b>, TPG<\/b>, and Climate Adaptive Infrastructure<\/b>\u00a0for $4.75 billion.<\/p>\n – Morinaga & Co.<\/b> agreed to acquire My\/Mochi Ice Cream<\/b><\/a>, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based mochi ice cream brand, from Lakeview<\/b> Capital<\/b>. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS<\/p>\n – Breakout Ventures<\/b><\/a>, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, raised $114 million for its third fund focused on companies blending science and technology.<\/p>\n – Scout<\/b> Ventures<\/b><\/a>, an Austin, Texas-based venture capital firm, raised $125 million for its fifth fund focused on emerging tech companies.<\/p>\n PEOPLE<\/p>\n
X:<\/strong> @agarfinks<\/a>
Email:<\/strong> alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com<\/a><\/p>\n