Onos Health has closed a $6.3 million oversubscribed venture round to meet surging demand from some of the country’s largest health plans. The healthcare AI company, which focuses on how payers manage behavioral health, announced the funding will support expansion of its platform that uses proprietary AI models to identify optimal care pathways.

Haystack and Pathlight Ventures co-led the round. Preseed investors Bertelsmann Healthcare Investments and Nebular also participated. The company has built an advisory board that includes executives from Optum Behavioral Health, Kaiser, and Oscar Health.

Addressing a $60 Billion Problem

Behavioral health needs have reached unprecedented levels since the pandemic. One in four Americans now seeks care for mental health or substance use issues. Payers are struggling to keep up.

Rising costs have pushed health plans toward reactive approaches that rely on outdated, manual processes. These methods create friction for patients trying to access care and for providers trying to deliver it. The result? An estimated $60 billion is lost annually in behavioral health due to care misalignment and unnecessary administrative burden.

“Since the pandemic, behavioral health has become the fastest-growing driver of cost for health plans. Managing that growth while ensuring people get timely, appropriate care is one of the biggest challenges in the industry. What excites me about Onos Health is their clinically aligned, responsible use of AI to help payers and providers truly work together to guide members toward the right support at the right time.”

Martin Rosenzweig, former Chief Medical Officer of Optum Behavioral Health

Redirecting Dollars to Quality Care

Onos is working to shift those wasted dollars back to effective treatment. The platform analyzes payer data in real time, allowing health plans to make faster clinical decisions and identify the best care pathways for their populations. These pathways help ensure members receive appropriate treatment and enable quick detection of low-value care.

The company’s AI models are trained on a substantial layer of behavioral health data. They’re designed to replace outdated processes like prior authorization, which often delays care access for patients who need immediate help.

Early results show measurable improvements. Health plans using Onos report 60% faster care decisions by reducing manual reviews. This matters especially for high-risk populations, including those seeking substance use treatment where timing can be critical.

Provider adherence to evidence-based standards has increased by more than 30%, driving better outcomes and lowering costs for high-intensity services like ABA therapy for autism. Provider network satisfaction has jumped 55%, thanks to better alignment and transparency between providers and payers on care pathways.

Building a Better System

Akshay Agrawal founded Onos Health with a clear mission.

“In U.S. health system, patients are too often left behind. Costs keep rising, and health plans are forced to choose between higher premiums or outdated processes that create abrasion between providers and payers — leaving members caught in the middle. We built Onos Health to redirect more dollars back to members, get them on the most effective care pathway, and align payers and providers on the right care for people.”

Akshay Agrawal, CEO and Founder of Onos Health

The company takes a clinically informed approach to AI development. Its advisory board brings decades of combined experience across health plans, provider networks, and national behavioral health policy.

Notable advisors include Rebecca Schechter, former CEO of Optum Behavioral Health; Dr. Sean Martin, former Chief Medical Officer of Oscar; Dr. Martin Rosenzweig, former Chief Medical Officer of Optum Behavioral Health; and Ian Gordon, former COO of Kaiser Washington and BCBS NC.

Scaling to Meet Demand

Onos will deploy the new funding to keep pace with interest from new and existing clients. The company plans to expand its clinical and data science teams as it scales its operations.

The healthcare AI company is working with several of the nation’s largest health plans to implement its platform. With behavioral health becoming an increasingly significant cost driver for payers, Onos is positioned to help plans balance access, quality, and sustainability.

Origianl Creator: Ekaterina Pisareva
Original Link: https://justainews.com/industries/healthcare-and-medical/health-ai-startup-onos-closes-6-3m-funding-round/
Originally Posted: Thu, 09 Oct 2025 12:28:27 +0000