AI startup OpenEvidence has doubled its valuation to US$12bn after raising US$250m in a new funding round.
OpenEvidence develops artificial intelligence tools designed to help doctors search and interpret medical information more quickly.
The Miami-based company trains its chatbot on specialised medical content from scientific publications and clinical sources to support physicians during decision-making.
The US$250m funding round was led by Thrive Capital and DST, according to the company. Earlier this year the startup had already raised US$75m from Sequoia at a valuation of about US$1bn.
Just months later, in October, the company’s valuation rose to about US$6bn.
OpenEvidence was founded in 2022 by Daniel Nadler, who previously sold Kensho Technologies to Standard & Poor’s for US$700m in 2018, and Zachary Ziegler, a former Harvard PhD student researching artificial intelligence.
Nadler said the platform is designed specifically for clinicians.
“If you only squint from a distance, OpenEvidence is ‘ChatGPT’ for doctors. If you look closely, it’s a very different organism.”
“It’s built from the ground up specifically for doctors. It’s free for doctors, but it’s a pro tool.”
It’s trained on specialized medical content, such as the New England Journal of Medicine (through strategic partnerships).”
Nadler claimed more than 40 per cent of physicians already use the tool, and said there is further growth potential in the healthcare sector, which accounts for nearly 20 per cent of US gross domestic product and around US$5tn in annual spending.
“Health care is the largest segment of the real economy.”
“People realize there could be a lot of winners in the space.”
Industry players including OpenAI and Anthropic have also introduced healthcare-focused versions of their AI chatbots.
Nadler said OpenEvidence’s access to large amounts of clinical usage data could provide an advantage.
We’ve already gathered hundreds of millions of real-world clinical consultations from verified physicians – that feedback loop is incredibly hard to replicate.
“Even if someone copied the playbook today, they’d still be far behind because it’s not just the partnerships, it’s the real-world usage data.”
The company currently generates revenue through advertising. Nadler said OpenEvidence recorded more than US$100m in annualised revenue last year, with most new users discovering the tool through other doctors.
“We’re focused on building relationships with physicians.”
“Most health care in America isn’t happening at billion-dollar hospitals in New York or San Francisco.”
“It’s happening in small practices that don’t have IT departments or budgets for expensive software.”
