Corti Raises $60 Million to Challenge Microsoft in the Health Care Market

Corti ApS, a medical software startup, has successfully secured $60 million in funding with the aim of expanding the reach of its AI "co-pilot" services to more hospitals, positioning itself to compete with industry giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and other tech leaders making significant inroads into the healthcare sector.

Corti's proprietary system is meticulously designed to transcribe and interpret calls made to emergency medical services and doctor's offices, subsequently streamlining the labor-intensive paperwork process. This encompasses the creation of essential documents for patient care, insurance-related paperwork, and even providing guidance to healthcare professionals. Corti proudly serves a network of 60 hospitals and healthcare institutions spanning Europe, the UK, and the United States.

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The financing round was spearheaded by prominent European venture firms Atomico and Prosus Ventures, resulting in a valuation of Corti at $260 million, as reported by knowledgeable sources. Sandeep Bakshi, Head of Europe Investments at Prosus Ventures, emphasized that Corti managed to stand out in the competitive landscape of health-tech startups due to its impressive feedback from satisfied paying customers, stating, "Everyone we spoke to said, 'We haven't seen anything like this.'"

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The current surge of interest in AI has rekindled the technology industry's fascination with the immensely promising healthcare market, which had hitherto proven challenging to penetrate substantially. For instance, Microsoft's Nuance, a voice-transcription provider, introduced a "fully automated" service earlier this year for preparing clinician notes and documents. In July, Amazon unveiled new AI capabilities capable of summarizing doctor visits and deploying medical chatbots, while Alphabet is actively developing analogous tools.

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Andreas Cleve, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Corti, remains confident that his startup can successfully compete with tech giants, citing the expanding demand for healthcare services as a solid foundation. "It's a really, really big market," he affirmed, adding, "There will be more than enough room for one player."

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Founded in Copenhagen in 2016, several years before the current AI surge, Corti initially conducted trials of its services in Denmark, focusing on tracking emergency medical calls to detect instances of cardiac arrest. Over time, Corti's advanced algorithms demonstrated the ability to identify such cases earlier than human dispatchers. Earlier this year, the company's founders relocated to the United States, where the bulk of Corti's sales are now generated. However, specific revenue figures have not been disclosed.

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While various companies offer automated transcription services for medical visits and calls, Corti distinguishes itself by providing real-time guidance to medical personnel in certain situations. This includes advising nurses on how to address patients with specific complaints, such as neck pain, or instructing a 911 caller on when to administer CPR. To achieve this, the company leverages speech recognition technology and expansive language models, although it remains mindful of the potential for errors. Lars Maaløe, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Corti, underscored that the system adheres strictly to the protocols of its medical clients and is not intended to function as a diagnostic tool. He emphasized the presence of "guardrails" within the software to prevent the dissemination of erroneous advice, acknowledging the mission-critical nature of the service.

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