Sword Health, a virtual musculoskeletal care provider, announced Tuesday that it raised a financing round of $130 million. It also unveiled its new AI care specialist that converses with users and guides them through their sessions.
New York City-based Sword Health addresses muscle and joint issues from the neck down to the ankle. It also has a women’s health program called Bloom that cares for pelvic conditions. The company serves both employers and health plans. Through Sword Health’s AI care platform, patients get access to a clinical specialist, personalized programs, educational content and technology that supports them through exercises.
The $130 million financing round is from both new and existing investors. The company did not name the investors from this round, but its existing investors include Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst and Founders Fund. The round is “a mix of primary and secondary sale to provide liquidity to current and former employees and early investors,” according to the announcement. In total, Sword Health has raised $340 million and is valued at $3 billion (a 50% increase from its Series D valuation announced in 2021). The company also told MedCity News that an IPO is a possibility in the near future.
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Sword Health’s new AI care specialist — called Phoenix — has historical data on patients’ conditions and progress. It can verbally communicate with users and will ask how they’re feeling and give motivation. It also provides real-time feedback during sessions and will make suggestions. It then summarizes the patient’s performance data after each session. This helps the clinician better understand the patient’s progress.
“Since pioneering the novel concept of AI Care during my PhD over a decade ago, we’ve been relentlessly working on its evolution through many different iterations,” said Virgilio “V” Bento, founder and CEO of Sword Health, in a statement. “Now, the launch of Phoenix represents the largest leap forward of our model to date, and we’re very excited about the impact it will have on how the world accesses and receives care.”
Phoenix is being rolled out throughout 2024, first with Thrive, Sword Health’s physical pain solution, and then Bloom, according to the company. It will eventually be integrated across the company’s platform.
The financing and announcement of Phoenix comes when about 1.71 billion people have musculoskeletal conditions globally, and these conditions are the leading contributor to disability, the World Health Organization reported. But according to Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, AI can greatly improve care.
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Abarca executives see plenty of potential for new technologies but note the need to strike the right balance between tech and human intervention.
“AI is the only way to deliver personalized and accessible healthcare to everyone,” Khosla said in a statement. “We bet on Sword early on based on their bold vision of creating a new category of healthcare powered by AI. Their execution has been world-class, and we are thrilled to continue working with them as they bring their AI Care platform to more people around the globe.”
Sword Health is not the only company providing musculoskeletal support. Others include Hinge Health and Kaia Health.
Photo: Sword Health
