Last week, we announced our oversubscribed $25M Series A, co-led by a16z and Google Ventures, with participation from Asymmetric, Floodgate, and Pear VC. Today, I want to share how we got here, just two years after starting Counsel.

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We began in late 2023 with a simple observation: most of healthcare’s problems stem from a massive mismatch between supply and demand. In many parts of the U.S., it takes more than 30 days to see a primary care doctor. Patients, left waiting, turn to urgent care, ERs, or increasingly to free online chatbots and search engines. The result is care that’s either too expensive or too unsafe.

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That’s why we built Counsel. Through our messaging-based platform, members start a visit anytime and get care within minutes from a combination of medical-grade AI and real, board-certified doctors.

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This synthesis of artificial and human intelligence allows us to deliver higher-quality care at lower cost, continuously improving as the system learns. One day, we hope anyone, anywhere can have access to near-perfect doctors at the cost of compute.

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In just two years, that future is already coming into view. A traditional primary care doctor can manage around 1,500 patients. A physician at Counsel can safely care for more than 25,000, thanks to our AI-powered “clinician cockpit.”

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At the core of Counsel are three principles that guide everything we build.‍

1. We believe care should feel effortless. The best healthcare experience should be as simple as sending a message, fast, seamless, and conversational, with answers available in seconds.‍
2. Care should never start from scratch. Every message, lab, and prior condition is remembered securely, creating continuous context that makes each interaction more personal and precise over time.‍
3. Safety and quality must always come first. Every conversation on Counsel is supervised by our in-house medical group, licensed in all 50 states, to ensure our AI operates to the highest clinical standards.

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Our results speak clearly. Members report 4.85/5 satisfaction and a 76 NPS, with 96% of issues resolved on the platform without escalation. On average, this translates to $381 in annual savings per engaged member.

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We’ve achieved these outcomes in close collaboration with our enterprise partners, some of the most forward-thinking employers and health plans in the country, who are embedding Counsel as a trusted clinical front door for their members.

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In our effort to make high-quality care available to everyone, we’ve now made Counsel available to the public. Anyone can visit counselhealth.com to sign up for a free account and gain unlimited access to our medical-grade AI. You’ll only pay when your care involves a real doctor. Counsel is designed to be your lifelong medical home, from everyday questions to unexpected conditions.

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None of this would be possible without our incredible team of the world-class physicians, engineers, and AI researchers who I am honored to work alongside daily.

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Our goal is simple but ambitious: to multiply the world’s clinical capacity. This milestone marks just one step toward that future, but it brings us meaningfully closer to a world where anyone, anywhere, can access the best doctor in the world within seconds.