The LLM startup released its first product, a genAI-enabled staffing marketplace solution, for phase three safety testing and will use the funds to speed up further product development.
Hippocratic AI, a company dedicated to developing a safety-centric Large Language Model (LLM) for healthcare, has secured $53 million in Series A funding, bringing its total funding to $120 million. The funding round was co-led by Premji Invest and General Catalyst, with participation from SV Angel, Memorial Hermann Health System, and existing investors such as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Bio + Health, Cincinnati Children’s, WellSpan Health, and Universal Health Services (UHS).
In conjunction with the funding, the company has unveiled its inaugural product designed for phase three safety testing: a staffing marketplace tailored for healthcare providers. This innovative platform leverages AI agents to manage low-risk, non-diagnostic patient tasks, offering a potential solution to the pressing shortage of healthcare professionals. Notably, these AI agents will not engage with patients unsupervised until the completion of phase three safety testing.
Safety is paramount in Hippocratic AI’s development ethos, as reflected in its name, which pays homage to the Hippocratic Oath’s principle of “do no harm”. The company’s commitment to safety is evident in its meticulous multi-phase testing regimen and transparent dissemination of findings. Their LLM employs a distinctive “constellation architecture,” integrating multiple models to enhance accuracy and mitigate errors, while human oversight is incorporated as needed.
Acknowledging the critical healthcare staffing deficit, Hippocratic AI’s maiden product aims to alleviate the strain by empowering healthcare providers with AI-driven support for tasks like chronic disease management and post-discharge follow-up. This offering not only addresses immediate needs but also underscores the company’s broader mission of prioritizing safety and efficacy in healthcare AI.
The completion of the first two phases of safety testing involved extensive engagement with over 1000 nurses and 130 physicians, yielding promising results showcased in a comprehensive paper titled “Polaris: A Safety-focused LLM Constellation Architecture for Healthcare”. Noteworthy findings include nurses’ favorable rating of the AI’s patient education capabilities, surpassing the average score of human nurses. Phase three testing, slated to encompass a larger cohort of healthcare professionals and partners, will provide further insights into the AI agents’ real-world performance and safety.
Munjal Shah, co-founder and CEO of Hippocratic AI, emphasized the company’s unwavering commitment to safety, citing it as the cornerstone of their endeavors. Shah underscored the significance of selecting investors who align with Hippocratic AI’s values, highlighting their prioritization of safety over immediate financial gains as a testament to their dedication to ethical AI development.