Healthtech unicorn Olive AI to shut down

The company was once valued at $4 billion

Image credit: Microsoft Paint Cocreator/DALL.E and Canva

Columbus, Ohio-based healthtech startup Olive AI, once valued at $4 billion, has announced its closure.

Here are some key points:

• The company, specializing in revenue cycle automation tools, will sell its clearinghouse and patient access businesses to Waystar and Humata Health, representing the core of Olive's operations.

• The shutdown follows financial struggles, including layoffs of 450 workers in July 2022 and an additional 200 in February. At the time, CEO Sean Lane mentioned that the company's resources were strained due to its rapid expansion and lack of focus (lots of product offerings and acquisitions of its own).

• Olive's closure reflects a trend as other pandemic-era healthtech successes, such as Pear Therapeutics and Babylon, also face financial challenges and bankruptcy. The broader landscape indicates a slowdown in funding, with Q3 2023 marking the second-lowest funding quarter since 2019, according to Rock Health.