9amHealth raises $26M to scale AI-driven virtual specialty care for high-cost chronic conditions

Chronic disease has become the main cost driver in employer-sponsored healthcare, yet the available care models for managing it are still largely built around in-person specialist access. Conditions including obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol collectively account for a substantial share of workforce health expenditure. The problem is structural: waiting times are long and the administrative friction between primary care, specialist referrals, and pharmacy management leaves patients without continuous support.

Founded in San Diego in 2021 by Frank Westermann and co-founders Anton Kittelberger, Paul Geevarghese, and Bernhard Schandl, 9amHealth has built a virtual specialty care platform targeting precisely this gap. The company combines AI-assisted clinical workflows with specialist clinicians alongside at-home laboratory testing, prescription management, and continuous remote monitoring - all delivered without a single in-person visit. Employers and pharmacy benefit managers contract directly with the platform to provide this care to their workforces.

In May 2026, 9amHealth closed a $26 million Series B, led by Define Ventures and with new investors SemperVirens VC, Catalio Capital Management and NewHealth Ventures participating alongside existing backers 7Wire Ventures and The Cigna Group Ventures. The capital will be used to expand the platform to additional high-cost chronic conditions and to scale clinical and technology infrastructure.

The underlying logic is straightforward: conditions requiring ongoing specialist medication and long-term management coordination are precisely those that AI-assisted care can absorb most efficiently. With $50 million in projected medical and pharmacy savings already documented, 9amHealth's Series B funding will allow it to move beyond cardiometabolic care and into the broader chronic disease landscape, where employer healthcare costs are most exposed.

Sources: 9amHealth | Crunchbase

Founders: Frank Westermann, Anton Kittelberger, Paul Geevarghese, Bernhard Schandl