In 2026, employer healthcare costs are expected to see their largest increase in 15 years.
This simple statistic carries a dizzying assortment of socio-economic and political ramifications: The cost of healthcare has perhaps never been a more agonizing flashpoint in the U.S., at a time when AI is the driving force behind tech and economic growth. And still, where small businesses and their employees fit into this equation is fragile at best.
Ty Wang, Angle Health CEO and cofounder, said that while there’s been “an explosion of new ways of receiving medical services” like telehealth, digital pharmacies, and chronic disease management programs—these benefits mostly accrue to employees of large tech companies or major white-collar firms.
“These services are still largely inaccessible to the vast majority of Americans,” he said.
In 2019, Wang cofounded Angle Health, an AI-driven healthcare benefits startup, with fellow Palantir alum Anirban Gangopadhyay. Now, Angle has raised a $134 million Series B, consisting of both equity and debt, and led by Portage, Fortune has exclusively learned. The company says it serves more than 2,600 small business employers in 44 states.
“We’ve been able to very effectively use AI in areas where a human should not be manually administering things that they otherwise would be,” said Gangopadhyay. “We quote thousands of groups a week. In any other company, you’re getting quoted these PDFs that are 12, 15, 20 pages long. And they’re parsing through these PDFs manually…We’ve fully automated and optimized that process where our underwriters and our sales people are only doing the pieces that we need a human to be doing.”
Small businesses face particular difficulties when providing healthcare, often operating with poor broker support, limited transparency, and no bargaining power.
“The SMB market is a large part of the population that is often forgotten,” said Wang. “There’s absolutely no transparency. There’s very little predictability, and the incumbents are able to gatekeep the data that’s available to them.”
Wang and Gangopadhyay told Fortune that Angle is devoted to transparency, cost stability, and detailed reporting in an effort to improve healthcare experiences and cost surprises. There’s an awareness that this is a systemic problem, albeit one that can be vastly improved (and over time, slowly rebuilt) by technology.
“We don’t believe that an insurance company is going to really solve healthcare,” said Gangopadhyay. “We think that the future of healthcare is a completely redesigned ecosystem that is using AI-first, tech-first products and workflows to really unlock the best care for members.”
See you tomorrow,
Allie Garfinkle
X: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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Venture Deals
- Eon, a New York City-based cloud infrastructure company, raised $300 million in Series D funding. Elad Gil led the round and was joined by Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and others.
- Curative Health Insurance Company, an Austin, Texas-based employer-sponsored health insurance platform, raised $150 million in Series B funding. Upside Vision Fund led the round and was joined by others.
- Axiado Corporation, a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of security and management solutions for AI data centers, raised $100 million in Series C+ funding. Maverick Silicon led the round and was joined by Prosperity7 Ventures, Orbit Venture Partners, Crosslink Capital, Nosterra Ventures, and others.
- Antares, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based developer of advanced nuclear microreactors, raised $96 million in Series B funding. Shine Capital led the round and was joined by Alt Capital, Caffeinated, FiftyThree Stations, Industrious, and others.
- Zafran Security, a New York City-based AI-powered threat exposure management platform, raised $60 million in Series C funding. Menlo Ventures led the round.
- Titan OS, a Barcelona, Spain-based television operating system, raised €50 million ($58.1 million) in Series A funding. Highland Europe led the round and was joined by Mangrove Capital Partners and others.
- PermitFlow, a New York City-based AI-powered permit application and management platform for builders, raised $54 million in Series B funding. Accel led the round and was joined by Kleiner Perkins, Felicis, Initialized Capital, Altos Ventures, Y Combinator, and existing investors.
- Clover Security, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based product security company, raised $36 million in funding. Notable Capital and Team8 led the round and were joined by SVCI.
- Ripple Foods, a Berkeley, Calif.-based producer of high-protein, allergen-free plant-based milks, raised $17 million in funding from Material Impact, Rich Products Ventures, and existing investors.
- Unlimited Industries, a San Francisco-based AI platform for construction, raised $12 million in seed funding. Andreessen Horowitz and CIV led the round and were joined by others.
- Trial Library, a San Francisco-based platform that connects patients to clinical trials, raised $10 million in Series A funding. SemperVirens Venture Capital and Next Ventures led the round and were joined by Sanofi Ventures, Lux Capital, and others.
- Clipbook, a San Francisco-based AI platform designed for tracking for communications and public affairs teams, raised $3.3 million in seed funding. Mark Cuban, Commonweal Ventures, and Carpenter Capital.
- Ascentra Labs, a London, U.K.-based AI platform designed for consultants, raised $2 million in seed funding. NAP led the round and was joined by angel investors.
Private Equity
- Encore, backed by Blackstone, acquired FIRST, a New York City-based event marketing and brand experience company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- GI Partners agreed to acquire Digita Group, a Helsinki, Finland-based tower company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Industrial Growth Partners acquired Marki Microwave, a Morgan Hill, Calif.-based manufacturer of radio frequency and microwave parts. Financial terms were not disclosed.
