Healthcare technology startup Kouper has emerged from stealth mode with $10 million in funding to tackle one of healthcare's most critical failure points: the transition from hospital to home care. The funding round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from 25Madison and CVS Health Ventures, positioning the company to address a problem that costs the U.S. healthcare system over $53 billion annually in avoidable readmissions.
Founded by CEO Salman Ali, co-founder of GetSnooze, and CTO Ablimit Keskin, PhD, formerly of Komodo Health, Kouper has developed an AI-powered platform that integrates directly with hospitals and health systems to track patients in real-time after discharge from hospitals, emergency rooms, or urgent care facilities.
Addressing Healthcare's Most Vulnerable Moment
The period following hospital discharge represents one of the most fragile moments in a patient's healthcare journey, where poorly coordinated care transitions often lead to confusion, missed follow-ups, and deteriorating outcomes. Kouper's platform aims to prevent this spiral by using artificial intelligence to automate scheduling, surface potential red flags, and maintain patient engagement without adding additional workload for clinical teams.
"The journey through the American health care system is fraught with challenges and can be particularly difficult when transitioning from the hospital to the home setting," said Salman Ali, Co-Founder and CEO of Kouper. "A combination of our team's lived experience and iteration with our incubation partner 25m Health laid the foundation for Kouper and our absolute focus on creating a personalized transition of care experience for every patient leaving the hospital."
Technology Platform and Implementation
Kouper's platform serves as infrastructure for better healthcare handoffs, providing hospitals and care teams with a comprehensive, real-time view of each patient after discharge. Rather than relying on fragmented spreadsheets or disconnected systems, the platform consolidates information into a unified interface that enables quick decision-making based on accurate patient context.
The company emphasizes rapid deployment, with hospitals able to implement Kouper's system in under a month. According to the company, some partner organizations have already demonstrated significant improvements, with patient engagement increasing by more than 50% and follow-up appointment rates improving by over 60%.
Health System Partnerships and Validation
Kouper is currently working with several leading health systems across the country, including LifePoint, Henry Ford Health, and Ascension Saint Thomas. These partnerships have provided validation for the platform's effectiveness in real-world healthcare settings.
"I first met Salman and his team a couple of years ago while working to launch one of our hospitals in Texas. Since then, they have demonstrated a systems-level approach to building a market-leading transitions-of-care offering. We've been excited to expand our partnership with Kouper across several of our hospitals," said Chris Frost, MD, Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, and Chief Quality Officer at LifePoint.
Courtland Keteyian, MD, MBA, MPH, Interim President/CEO of Mosaic Clinically Integrated Network at Henry Ford Health, highlighted the platform's relevance for large healthcare networks: "As the leader of one of the largest clinically integrated networks in the country, serving over 550,000 aligned lives, I know that transitions of care are critical to our success. We are excited to partner with Kouper to equip our Care Hub teams with cutting-edge analytics and AI-enabled support, empowering our staff to deliver even better care."
Investor Perspective and Market Timing
The funding comes amid rising investor interest in AI-driven health technology solutions. Chris Bischoff, Managing Director and Global Head of Health Assurance at General Catalyst, emphasized the critical nature of the problem Kouper addresses: "Kouper is solving one of the most critical challenges in health care by addressing the failures in care transitions that hurt patients and burden systems. Salman, Ablimit, and the team are building core infrastructure that brings accountability, continuity, and better outcomes."
Merrill Anovick, General Partner at 25Madison, noted the increasing importance of comprehensive care transition solutions in the context of evolving payment models: "With new mandatory episode-based payment models like TEAM emerging, it's more important than ever for health systems to adopt Kouper's comprehensive, AI agent-powered transitions of care platform at scale."
Scaling Operations
The fresh funding will be used to scale Kouper's team and deepen its work with early health system partners. The company's platform can be fully deployed in as little as four weeks, delivering rapid time-to-value for healthcare organizations seeking to improve their care transition processes.
A. Brian Wilcox, Jr., MD, Chief Clinical Officer at Ascension Saint Thomas, expressed enthusiasm for the pilot program: "Ascension Saint Thomas is excited to pilot Kouper at our Nashville Midtown site. Kouper's ability to connect hospitalized and ER patients to timely follow up care is a best practice idea we are pleased to strengthen."
