Bunkerhill Health secures $55 million for healthcare AI solutions.

      The challenging aspect of medical AI has never been the technology itself, but rather the implementation within hospitals. Bunkerhill Health has secured new funding to bridge this divide.

      The startup announced a $25 million Series B funding round led by Khosla Ventures, according to an exclusive report by Fortune. This raises its total funding to $55 million, with participation from Sequoia, Felicis, Optum Ventures, and Y Combinator.

      The company's growth is significant. According to the founder, Bunkerhill's revenue increased twentyfold in the past year, and it has partnered with over a dozen health systems.

      What Bunkerhill offers

      Bunkerhill provides AI agents through a platform named Carebricks. Hospitals present a challenge—such as lengthy wait times, overlooked follow-ups, or excessive paperwork—and Bunkerhill transforms the hospital’s concept into an agent that performs the task.

      The platform is operational in 15 health systems, including prominent institutions like Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, and Intermountain Health. It includes nine FDA-cleared clinical algorithms, one of which detects silent heart-valve disease, while another identifies osteoporosis risk.

      A personal connection

      The initiative is rooted in personal experience. CEO Nishith Khandwala began this project at Stanford in 2017, but almost abandoned it when hospitals showed little interest. His father suffered a heart attack in 2020, and a cardiologist later revealed that an earlier scan had indicated the risk. “I think we could have caught this earlier,” Khandwala recalled the cardiologist saying. He co-founded Bunkerhill with David Eng, maintaining this original vision.

      “Medical advancements have outpaced our healthcare system's capability to implement them,” Khandwala stated. “Why should a hospital have to collaborate with 100 different companies to address 100 various issues?”

      Results and considerations

      At the University of Texas Medical Branch, 22 agents are currently active. In their initial month, one agent that interprets coronary scans identified a patient at immediate risk, resulting in a referral to cardiology for a triple bypass, which the team credits with saving his life.

      Other agents have successfully reduced nephrology wait times by over 50% and expedited lung findings by 80%. UTMB’s AI chief, Peter McCaffrey, describes the platform as “a shared brain” for the health system. “We don’t need superintelligence to tackle our largest challenges,” he noted. “We need average intelligence.”

      The area poses genuine risks, including concerns about accuracy and privacy. Currently, Mayo Clinic is facing a lawsuit from a former research director regarding its AI management. McCaffrey emphasizes the importance of maintaining the integrity of the doctor-patient relationship.

      A competitive, well-funded sector

      Investment in healthcare AI is increasing rapidly. Bunkerhill is part of a wave along with companies like Neko Health and a series of medical AI funding rounds. Its investor, Vinod Khosla, is well-acquainted with the landscape, having been an early supporter of OpenAI and funding healthcare startups for many years.

      “The barrier to healthcare AI has never been the technology; it was the challenge of getting a health system to actually implement it,” Khosla stated. “Bunkerhill has bridged that gap.”

      Sequoia’s Alfred Lin, who led the seed round in 2023, is unfazed by the competition. “I much prefer having 1,000 flowers bloom,” he remarked, “and the best ones will persist over time.”