A Conductor For The Orchestra: Seasoned Healthcare Executive Raises $52 Million For An AI Health Startup

<p><strong>Michelle Carnaha</strong>n has spent the better part of the last three decades working in healthcare at companies like <strong>Thirty Madison</strong> and Eli Lilly <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/LLY" target="_blank" class="ticker-link" data-ticker="LLY" data-exchange="NYSE" rel="noopener">(NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/LLY">LLY</a>)</a>. Now, the entrepreneur has raised $52 million in seed money for her own startup, Arbiter, a platform that connects health care professionals and payers to provide better patient care.</p>



<p>The money has all been raised from family offices, including TriEdge Investments, MFO Ventures, and WindRose Health Investors, <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/arbiter-emerges-from-stealth-with-52m-to-build-the-ai-system-that-connects-healthcare-302620237.html">according</a> to the company's funding announcement. Their investments give Arbiter a $400 million valuation.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Building on years of experience</h2>



<p>Following a 26-year tenure at Eli Lilly, Carnahan left big pharma for virtual care company Thirty Madison in 2020. She served as the company's president during the 2021 <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/personal-finance/management/25/10/48166135/venture-funding-roars-back-in-q3-thanks-to-ais-billion-dollar-boom">venture capital boom</a> and was instrumental in helping the business attain its $1 billion valuation.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In September, Thirty Madison <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/remedy-meds-to-acquire-thirty-madison-expanding-telehealth-capabilities-across-mens-womens-and-metabolic-health-302545572.html">was acquired</a> by Remedy Meds in a $500 million all-stock deal.</p>



<p>Despite witnessing firsthand the boom and bust of venture capital money, Carnahan told <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/health-startup-arbiter-grabs-52-million-at-400-million-valuation-2025-11">Business Insider</a> she didn't intentionally set out to build Arbiter without it. That decision came from a desire to partner with specialized investors who could help bring the product to market faster.</p>



<p>&#8220;This gives us not only a knowledge advantage, but a distribution advantage in partnerships that would take years to develop,&#8221; she said.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Utilizing AI</h2>



<p>Arbiter's goal is to unite payers, providers, and patients on an <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/tech/25/11/48910379/pharma-stocks-to-watch-artificial-intelligence-ai-healthcare-cancer-cure-eli-lilly-merck">AI-powered platform</a> that eliminates waste and improves patient care. The startup is only six months old, but Caarnahan told BI it is already live with more than 1,000 clinicians.</p>



<p>The support from family offices and the acquisition of data platform SecondWave Delivery Systems helped accelerate that path to market, she says.</p>



<p>SecondWave Delivery Systems was founded by MFO Ventures co-founder Erick Moskow in 2020. The software amalgamates patient data and evaluates that information for potential health risks in order to help doctors make better treatment decisions. It was a perfect match for Arbiter.</p>



<p>&#8220;Arbiter&#8217;s mission is nothing less than to rebuild the operating spine of U.S. healthcare,&#8221; Carnahan said in the funding announcement. &#8220;By aligning payers and providers around the needs of patients, we&#8217;re transforming healthcare from a fragmented set of parts into a connected system that works for everyone.&#8221;</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The healthcare orchestra</h2>



<p>Carnahan expounded on her long-term vision for Arbiter to BI, including plans for future acquisitions.</p>



<p>While the company is building its own AI infrastructure, she told the outlet she wants to provide a solid data foundation first. So, she's looking for other platforms with a clear data strategy, like SecondWave's, to partner with.</p>



<p>&#8220;Everyone keeps building new instruments for the orchestra," Carnahan told BI. "There&#8217;s a prior auth tool here, an analytics dashboard there, but no one&#8217;s building the conductor. Arbiter is that conductor."</p>



<p>Over time, she also hopes to use Arbiter as a way to make healthcare more proactive and less reactive. Closing the gaps, she says, is simply the first step in making those changes.</p>



<p>"Healthcare fragmentation isn&#8217;t an abstract problem &#8211; it&#8217;s deeply human,&#8221; Arbiter board member and founder of VillageMD Clive Fields said in the company's funding announcement. &#8220;Every delay or missed connection represents a patient waiting for care that should already be underway. Arbiter is uniting the system around them, so care can move at the speed of need.&#8221;</p>



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<p><em><strong>Image: Shutterstock</strong></em></p>