NEA Invests $20M in Anterior to Accelerate Health Insurance Approval Process Using AI

Anterior, a company that uses AI to quickly expedite health insurance approval for medical procedures, recently closed a $20 million Series A round at a $95 million post-money valuation. The round was led by NEA, with existing investors Sequoia and Neo also participating in the financing. Additionally, the round included angel investors such as Mustafa Suleyman, a co-founder of DeepMind and Inflection AI who recently joined Microsoft.

Formerly known as Co:helm, Anterior was founded by Abdel Mahmoud, a former doctor turned tech entrepreneur. Mahmoud’s frustration with the administrative tasks he faced in medicine drove him to pursue a career in tech. The company has developed an LLM-powered co-pilot that helps healthcare providers save time on gathering medical documentation required by insurance companies. Anterior’s goal is to reduce denial rates and improve patient access to care.

Anterior’s current focus is on prior authorization automation, but the company plans to expand into other medical administrative functions in the future. NEA healthcare team managing general partner Mohamad Makhzoumi has joined Anterior’s board. Makhzoumi has a track record of successful investments in healthcare startups like Tempus and Xaira.

Anterior competes with Cohere Health, a similar provider of prior authorization automation solutions. Cohere Health recently raised a $50 million round led by Deerfield Management, bringing their total funding to $106 million. Both Anterior and Cohere Health are focused on improving the efficiency of the health insurance approval process and enhancing patient care.