Laguna Health, an AI-powered contextual care management startup, has announced the initial close of its Series A round at $15 million, co-led by SemperVirens and HC9 Ventures. The new funds will be used to enhance the platform’s AI capabilities in care management and expand its market presence.

Every year, 35 million Americans are hospitalized, with two-thirds transitioning to self-care at home. This transition often lacks context-specific, personalized care, and leads to potentially costly complications. Factors extending beyond Social Determinants of Health (SDOH), such as personal life circumstances and emotional drivers, often contribute to hindrances in the recovery journey.

Laguna Health’s AI-powered platform addresses these challenges by integrating medical care plans with social, emotional, and cultural factors to provide personalized care plans. Their technology helps Care Managers effectively support patients and improve outcomes, mitigating the effects of understaffing and heavy caseloads in healthcare facilities. Laguna’s solution offers significant value to employers and health plans grappling with high-cost patient populations.

The startup’s AI engine, built on a proven contextual care model, integrates medical care plans with social, emotional, and cultural factors. With personalized care plans tailored to patients’ unique life contexts, Care Managers can help individuals overcome barriers to recovery and even prevent readmission. For example, Laguna’s natural language processing (NLP) technology can identify a mother’s anxiety about her recovery and competing life priorities, offering personalized content and virtual support through the platform.

The initial Series A brings Laguna’s total funding to over $21 million. The startup was founded in 2020 by CEO, Yoni Shtein and CPO, Yael Adam, who previously founded AI startup Vim.