Investment in Optura Accelerates ROAI “Return on AI Investment,” Enabling Scale, Product Development and New Healthcare AI Agents
NEW YORK – October 16, 2025 – HC9 Ventures today announced the 10th investment of their Fund I and first in Optura, a company tackling the AI paralysis problem and giving healthcare leaders a north star toward driving real value with AI.
Because of fragmented AI efforts, healthcare organizations leave tens of millions of dollars on the table with solutions that cannot scale, track ROI or unify workflows. Optura, based in Nashville, is an AI-orchestration platform that turns disconnected pilots and point solutions into one unified program. This removes analysis paralysis for healthcare leaders and enables real-time ROI tracking to accelerate AI deployment and scale innovation. The company has created its own category, designing and accelerating “Return on AI Investment,” or ROAI.
“Optura is the essential AI backbone for healthcare executives, achieving millions of dollars in cost savings for a typical healthcare enterprise,” said Richard Lungen, General Partner and Co-Founder, HC9 Ventures. “At HC9, we focus our investments on themes with healthcare tailwinds and innovative companies, as well as industry leaders, and Optura checks every box. The company’s proven ability to give healthcare leaders the confidence and clarity they need to optimize AI solutions is a game changer. We are honored and excited to be working alongside respected innovators who have driven billions in enterprise value during their collective careers at the intersection of technology and healthcare.”
The undisclosed investment from HC9 Ventures follows the $6.5 million in Seed funding Optura announced in May of 2025, led by institutional investors Susa Ventures and Matrix Partners.
HC9 Ventures’ investment will enable Optura to:
- Expand the company’s library of healthcare-specific AI agents, which are purpose-built to solve real problems in claims, utilization, prior authorization and risk stratification, among other offerings.
- Scale the FDE (Forward Deployed Engineer) and Implementation team to meet the growing demand from mid to large healthcare enterprises.
- Accelerate product development, including new features like autonomous orchestration, self generative agent creation, and more.
“Mid-sized and large health plans, as well as larger providers, are all scrambling to integrate AI offerings. However, the lack of clarity around financial ROI creates uncertainty for decision-makers,” said Mike Hollis, Co-Founder and President, Optura. “As a purpose-built AI orchestration platform, rather than a point-solution, Optura brings scale and clarity to healthcare leaders, ultimately driving tangible ROAI. While we remain in the early innings of AI impact, expectations for strategy and results are already here and Optura is focused on optimizing AI investments. We are excited to collaborate with the HC9 team and their impressive track record of solving complex operational problems to bring measurable financial returns to the healthcare industry.”
About Optura
Optura is healthcare’s AI orchestration platform designed to turn disconnected pilots into a unified, enterprise-scale AI program that delivers measurable value — fast. Want to see Optura in action? Head to optura.ai to request your demo today.
About HC9 Ventures
HC9 is an early-stage venture capital firm purpose-built to provide industry-specific expertise to emerging healthcare software and services companies. HC9’s unparalleled, deeply-engaged investor community of leading executives, entrepreneurs, and investors collectively has thousands of years of experience in all facets of healthcare. We leverage the power of that experience to support the founders that are shaping the future of healthcare. For more information, please visit http://www.hc9.vc.
Media Contact:
Erik Milster
