Lotus Health gets $35 million for AI doctor who sees patients for free

A growing number of people are asking OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other MAs about their health, often discovering that chatbots provide remarkably useful medical insights.

KJ Dhaliwal (pictured left), who in 2019 sold South Asian dating app Dil Mil for $50 million, says he’s been thinking about the shortcomings of the US healthcare system since he was a child working as a medical translator for his parents, and saw the rise of LLM degrees as an opportunity to do something about it.

In May 2024, he launched Lotus Health AI, a free primary care provider available 24/7 in 50 languages. Lotus announced on Tuesday that it has raised $35 million in a Series A round led by CRV and Kleiner Perkins, bringing its total funding to $41 million.

People already consult AI about their health, but Lotus goes a step further: it goes beyond those chats to facilitate actual medical care, including diagnosis, prescriptions and specialist referrals.

In essence, Lotus is building an AI-powered doctor that operates like a real medical practice, equipped with a license to practice in all 50 states, malpractice insurance, HIPAA-compliant systems, and full access to patient records.

The main difference is that the majority of the work is done by AI, which has been trained to ask the same questions a doctor would ask.

Since the AI ​​models are also vulnerable to hallucinations, the company always has board-certified human doctors from top health institutions like Stanford, Harvard, and UCSF review final diagnoses, lab orders, and prescriptions.

Lotus has developed an AI model that, similar to OpenEvidence, combines the latest evidence-based research with patient history and clinical answers to create a treatment plan.

“The AI ​​gives the advice, but real doctors actually sign it,” Dhaliwal told TechCrunch.

Lotus recognizes the limitations of virtual care. For urgent health problems, Lotus directs patients to the nearest urgent care center or emergency room. If a condition requires a physical examination, the platform refers the patient to a personal doctor, Dhaliwal said.

Outsourcing much of the medical decision-making process to artificial intelligence is an ambitious bet given the regulatory hurdles in healthcare. For example, doctors are limited to seeing patients only in states where they are licensed.

“There are many challenges, but SpaceX is not sending astronauts to the moon,” said Sar Gur, CRV’s general partner, who led the deal and joined the company’s board.

Gore (pictured right), an early investor in DoorDash, Mercury and Ring, is convinced that the telemedicine frameworks created during the pandemic, combined with recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, allow Lotus to overcome many of its current regulatory and engineering hurdles.

“It’s a big swing,” Gore said. But for an investor like Gore, this is what appeals: Lotus is trying to fundamentally reimagine the entire primary care model.

At a time when primary care physicians are in short supply, Lotus claims it can see 10 times more patients than a traditional practice, even when each visit is limited to 15 minutes.

The startup isn’t the only one working on creating an AI doctor. Doctronic powered by Lightspeed is one of the competitors. Lotus distinguishes itself — At least for now – by offering the full care package absolutely free.

The eventual business models may include sponsored content or subscriptions, but the current focus remains entirely on product development and patient acquisition rather than revenue, Dhaliwal said.