Scoop: Health automation company Olive AI is shutting down
Erin Brodwin
Axios
October 31, 2023
Once-buzzy AI startup Olive is selling the remainder of its assets and winding down operations, per two memos viewed by Axios.
Why it matters: The memos mark the nail in the coffin for Olive, whose purple "go save health care" buses once dominated industry conferences.
Details: Based in Columbus, Ohio, Olive has sold its remaining business lines to health care companies Waystar and Humata Health and, per an internal Waystar memo viewed by Axios, is ceasing business operations.
- "I am announcing the acquisition of Olive's clearinghouse and patient access solutions. Please join me in welcoming new team members and clients, as well as expanding our relationship with many joint clients," writes Waystar CEO Matt Hawkins in the memo, which also references the "sensitivity of Olive's announcement to cease their business operations."
- Another memo posted to Olive's website on Tuesday reads that with its sale of its remaining units the company "will wind down the remainder of its business."
Flashback: Previously valued at $4 billion by high-profile firms including General Catalyst,Tiger Global, and Vista Equity Partners, Olive was the highest-profile startup in health care automation.
- That holy grail promised to cut costs and direct more time toward patient care — but Olive itself cut corners in seeking to realize its mission, an Axios investigation found.
Catch up fast: Olive AI underwent multiple rounds of layoffs and had been slowly selling various arms of its business, which once spanned both the payer and provider sides of the health care continuum.
- In February, Nuvo Holdings-backed Availity agreed to acquire Olive's utilization management division or payer-facing prior authorization business.
- Last fall, Olive shared in a memo seen by Axios that it planned to "divest" its tools for population health management and the 340B program, which mandates drug discounts for Medicaid and Medicare.
- The remaining business lines comprised clearinghouse, the company's claims and remittance product, and patient access tools.
This is a developing story.
Olive AI is shutting down (axios.com) |
