Anterior Secures $20M Investment from NEA to Accelerate AI-Driven Health Insurance Approvals
Anterior, a pioneering company utilizing artificial intelligence to expedite health insurance approval processes for medical procedures, has successfully raised $20 million in a Series A funding round. The round, led by NEA, brings Anterior's post-money valuation to $95 million.

Anterior, a pioneering company utilizing artificial intelligence to expedite health insurance approval processes for medical procedures, has successfully raised $20 million in a Series A funding round. The round, led by NEA, brings Anterior's post-money valuation to $95 million. The funding round also saw participation from existing investors Sequoia and Neo, both of whom have been instrumental in the company's early growth. Sequoia previously led Anterior's $3.2 million seed round in September, while Neo supported the company's launch in the summer of 2022.
In addition to the institutional investors, the Series A round included notable angel investors such as Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind and Inflection AI, who joined Microsoft in March to lead its consumer AI division. Despite requests for comments, representatives from NEA and Anterior were not immediately available.
Founded by former physician Abdel Mahmoud, Anterior initially operated under the name Co-helm. Mahmoud transitioned from a career in medicine to pursue a master's degree in computer science after becoming increasingly frustrated with the extensive administrative tasks that detracted from patient care. His vision for Anterior is to streamline these bureaucratic processes, allowing healthcare professionals to focus more on patient care.
Anterior has developed an LLM-powered co-pilot designed to assist nurses and doctors by automating the collection of medical documentation required by insurance companies. This technology aims to reduce the rate of insurance denials and accelerate patient access to necessary medical care. While the company's current focus is on automating prior authorization, there are plans to expand into other areas of medical administration.
Joining Anterior's board as part of this funding round is Mohamad Makhzoumi, managing general partner on NEA's healthcare team and co-CEO of the firm. Makhzoumi is known for his investments in companies like Tempus, a genomic testing and data analysis firm founded by Groupon co-founder Eric Lefkofsky. Tempus is set to go public next week with a valuation of up to $6.1 billion. Another of Makhzoumi's notable investments is Xaira, an AI-driven drug discovery startup that launched this year with $1 billion in funding.
Anterior faces competition from companies such as Cohere Health, which also specializes in prior authorization automation. Cohere Health recently raised $50 million in a funding round led by Deerfield Management, with contributions from Define Ventures, Flare Capital Partners, Longitude Capital, and Polaris Partners. This brings Cohere Health's total funding to $106 million over its five-year history.
With this significant infusion of capital, Anterior is well-positioned to enhance its AI-driven solutions and continue its mission of transforming the healthcare administrative landscape. As the company looks to expand its capabilities, it remains focused on reducing the administrative burdens faced by healthcare professionals and improving patient access to care.