Tiger Global-Backed Hospital Software Maker Olive AI Reaches $1.5 Billion Value

By December 1, 2020 December 14th, 2020 News

An Ohio startup that helps hospitals automate routine tasks is now valued at $1.5 billion after a funding round led by Tiger Global Management.

Olive AI Inc. received an investment of $225.5 million in the round, which included new investors Alphabet Inc.’s GV, Sequoia CapitalDragoneer Investment Group and Transformation Partners, according to a statement. Existing investors General Catalyst and Drive Capital also joined the round.

Columbus-based Olive has now raised more than $380 million in financing in the past nine months and roughly $445 million since its inception in 2012.

The company’s software is used by more than 600 hospitals in the U.S. to analyze data for insurance claims and supply chains.

“It is the de facto payments company for health care,” said Hemant Taneja, managing director at General Catalyst. “Health care is as big of a category as e-commerce.”

Olive Chief Executive Officer Sean Lane said the company’s customers are using its software to save money in a year in which the health-care business has struggled because of the coronavirus pandemic. “We’re part of their recovery plan from a cost-savings perspective,” Lane said.

The startup is part of Ohio’s growing technology ecosystem. Auto insurance platform Root Inc., also based in Columbus, raised $724 million in an initial public offering in October.

Lane said that he believes that launching in Ohio gave the company an advantage because there was less competition for hiring the best local talent. He said Olive has now expanded beyond the state and has a distributed workforce, something that will continue after the pandemic.

The newly raised capital will be used for more hiring, as well as product development, he said.

Olive will eventually hold an IPO, Lane said. “The inevitable future is going public.”