Humata Health is a prior authorization technology company building toward a touchless experience for one of the most friction-heavy processes in healthcare. The company was founded in 2023 by Jeremy Friese, M.D., a former interventional radiologist and physician leader at Mayo Clinic who previously founded the prior authorization startup Verata Health, acquired by Olive in 2020. After Olive wound down, Friese reassembled the prior authorization technology and team into Humata, giving the company a rare mix of proven IP and domain leadership in a notoriously difficult problem space.
Prior authorization is a chronic pain point: providers spend enormous staff time assembling and submitting requests, payers spend time reviewing them, and patients face care delays. Humata's platform uses machine learning to recommend which clinical documents should accompany a submission and to flag likely reasons for denial before a request is sent, increasing first-pass approval rates and reducing rework. The goal is connectivity and automation across both the provider and payer sides, so authorizations flow with minimal manual touch.
What distinguishes Humata is its dual-sided strategy and investor base. Rather than serving only providers, the company is partnering with payers and delegated entities to deliver complementary solutions, betting that a network spanning both sides is the only durable way to make prior authorization truly touchless. Its cap table reflects that thesis, with backing from organizations representing large portions of the insurance and health system markets.
Humata closed a $25 million investment in June 2024 led by Blue Venture Fund, which represents the majority of Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, and LRVHealth, which represents nearly 30 health systems and payers, with participation from Optum Ventures, .406 Ventures, Highmark Ventures, and VentureforGood. That roster of strategic healthcare investors is a strong signal of demand from the very organizations on both sides of the authorization workflow.
The company is using the capital to broaden its generative AI capabilities, expand its provider customer base, and deepen payer partnerships, positioning itself as connective infrastructure for prior authorization rather than a single-sided point tool.