Orbita raises $9m for healthcare conversational AI

Conversational AI-powered voice and chatbot solutions provider for healthcare business, Orbita, today announced through PR Newswire they have successfully raised $9m in a Series A funding round.

The Series A funding round was co-led by Philips Health Technology Ventures and HealthX Ventures with participation from Cultivation Capital and Newark Venture Partners.

The funding comes at a time where Orbita has recently released additional services and capabilities such as automated health monitoring for patients, employees, and other at-risk populations to combat the pandemic.

The additional capital will give the conversational AI-powered voice and chatbot solution provider extra resources to develop their suite of products and services.

Orbita’s chatbot and voice bot software allow for conversations and consultations to happen online which has helped in reducing contact center burdens and protecting key workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially the ones working in healthcare.

OrbitaASSIST is the conversational AI business product that acts as a virtual health assistant that provides hands-free, patient-provider communication which was created “in close partnership with nurses”.

Bill Rogers, CEO of Orbita said: “Our mission has always been to transform lives through the power of voice and conversational AI,”.

Taha Jangda, Partner at HealthX Ventures said they’re pleased to be supporting Orbita and their progress: “The Orbita team quickly recognized how to apply their existing technology to deliver highly relevant solutions to the COVID-19 front-line response. In addition to their rapid turnaround with the COVID chatbot, they have made tremendous strides expanding into the life sciences market, where they are well-positioned to facilitate patient engagement and marketing in a post-COVID world. We are very pleased to continue supporting their progress.”

Boston based conversational AI-powered provider Orbita was founded in 2015 and now has globally recognised brands on their client roster including the American Red Cross, Amgen, Cancer Treatment centers of America, Cognizant, Mayo Clinic, and Merck.

According to a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) millions of patients wait at least two hours to see a healthcare provider giving Orbita an opportunity to reduce these numbers with the popularity of conversational bots rising at a significant rate in light of COVID-19.

Through using Orbita’s multi-award-winning Conversational AI-powered services and products, healthcare and life science businesses engage patients, improve outcomes, and reduce costs while running all of its chatbots’ information past medical professionals, drawing on CDC guidelines.

Orbita’s enterprise-grade conversational platform supports AI-powered voice and chatbot applications accessible across the web, mobile, SMS, smart speakers, and mobile phones and deploy virtual text, voice, or touch assistants.

Rich Wilmot, Head of Philips Health Technology Ventures gave reasoning for their investment by saying: “Philips views conversational AI through voice and chatbot as an important future enabler to drive patient experience and clinical efficiency, especially in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic. We aim to partner with and invest in promising digital health companies complementary to Philips strategic initiatives and Orbita has established itself as a leading innovator in the industry with products and solutions that are enterprise-ready, pressure tested, and highly relevant to the pressing needs of healthcare providers.”

Rogers said thanks to Orbitas customers, partners, and investors while also praising the work the team has done during COVID-19 pandemic by saying: “Thanks to our customers and partners, we’ve witnessed how virtual healthcare assistants based on our technology have improved both healthcare efficiency and quality. We’ve experienced this perhaps most significantly in recent weeks supporting the COVID-19 pandemic response. We’re very proud of the work we’ve done and are equally proud to receive the support of our new investors to expand our reach and impact.”

This Series B funding round brings Orbita’s total raised capital to over $16.5m since the company started.