Marina Temkin

Codeium, an AI-powered coding startup, is raising a new round of funding at a $2.85 billion valuation, including fresh capital, according to two sources with knowledge of the deal.  The round is being led by returning investor Kleiner Perkins, the people said. The new round comes just six months after Silicon Valley-based Codeium announced that it had closed a $150 million Series C at a $1.25 billion post-money valuation led by General Catalyst with participation

With over 1,000 insurance companies in the U.S., figuring out how to get paid by each company is a complex challenge for doctors and hospitals. Each insurance may require slightly different information on medical claims, even for the same procedure. Incorrectly filed claims can lead to denied coverage, requiring manual resubmission and delayed payments. According to Nick Perry, co-founder and CEO of Candid Health, most medical claim denials result from legacy billing system providers struggling

For decades, the U.S. healthcare system has struggled to address the diet-related chronic illnesses affecting nearly half of all adults. That changed in recent years with the discovery of Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs that help people lose weight. While insurance covers these medications, doctors frequently require patients to see a nutritionist as part of their treatment plan. “I would argue that GLP-1 for dietitians is the biggest tailwind that any single provider type in

When accounting startup Bench abruptly failed last month, the shutdown was forced when the company’s lenders called in the startup’s loan. In late 2023, the digital freight company Convoy faced financial challenges, leading venture lending firm Hercules Capital to assume control of the company to recover its investments. Divvy Homes, which sold for about $1 billion to Brookfield Properties last week, has left some of the company shareholders without any payout, TechCrunch reported last week.

Hebbia, a startup using generative AI to search large documents and return answers, has raised a nearly $100 million Series B led by Andreessen Horowitz, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.  The round valued the company between $700 – $800 million, although TechCrunch couldn’t verify whether that valuation is pre- or post-money. (One possible scenario is $700 million pre/$800 million post.) Hebbia disclosed in an SEC filing in May that it had

In the post-COVID world, VCs say it’s not as easy to get excited about investing in digital health. Deal activity in healthcare IT was relatively flat in Q1 2024 at 74 total deals, valued at about $1 billion total, up only 3% from the year-ago quarter, according to PitchBook data.  Still, promising startups have grabbed investors’ attention this year. TechCrunch spoke with about a dozen healthcare VCs about the companies they think have the most

Rates of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts are surging among U.S. teens. A recent report from the Center of Disease Control found that nearly one in three girls have seriously considered suicide, and a significant number, 13% have actually attempted it. Psychologists have various theories about what’s causing adolescent mental health crises.   Some blame the increased use of smartphones and social media, while others believe that the isolation during the pandemic has played a significant

For centuries, people chewed willow tree bark to relieve pain, but scientists at chemical firm Bayer didn’t isolate its active ingredient until the 1800s and eventually patented its modified version as Aspirin. Aspirin is just one example of a medicine derived from natural sources. In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that around 40% of modern pharmaceutical products have roots in remedies used by our ancestors. Even with this impressive success of harnessing nature’s bounty,

Anterior, a company that uses AI to expedite health insurance approval for medical procedures, has raised a $20 million Series A round at a $95 million post-money valuation led by NEA, according to two people familiar with the deal. Existing investors Sequoia, which led Anterior’s $3.2 million seed round last September, and Neo, an accelerator that helped the company launch in the summer of 2022, also participated in the Series A financing. The round also