We're excited to announce that Automate.clinic has closed a pre-seed round led by Matchstick Ventures and Headwater Ventures. Over the past several months, we've been building our platform, growing our team, and assembling a network of physicians ready to help train the next generation of healthcare AI.

The shift to domain expertise

The most capable foundation models were built by consuming the world's information—billions of web pages, books, and code repositories—then refined through feedback from generalist human trainers. That approach worked remarkably well for getting models to the impressive accuracy we see today.

But 63% isn't good enough for healthcare.

The next wave of AI improvement requires domain experts. Not generalists labeling data, but experienced experts who understand the nuances of clinical reasoning, diagnostic uncertainty, and the messy realities of practicing medicine. As Mercor demonstrated by becoming the fastest-growing company in history—reaching $500 million in revenue in just 17 months—there's a firehose of demand for expert training data and evaluation.

Healthcare, however, is a different beast. You can't build a network of clinical experts the same way you'd assemble gig workers for comedy writing or financial analysis. The stakes are higher. The knowledge is harder to verify. And getting this right requires building something that looks more like a medical practice than a freelance marketplace.

Doctors are academics at heart. They spent a decade or more in training not just to memorize facts, but to learn how to think—how to reason through uncertainty, weigh incomplete information, and arrive at decisions when the cost of being wrong is someone's life. That kind of expertise doesn't show up for piecework. It shows up when you're part of something that matters.

Physicians want to work together. They're curious, relentless learners who got into medicine because they love solving hard problems. They want hallway consults and case conferences. They want to debate differential diagnoses with colleagues who challenge their thinking. They want to feel like they're part of a new academic institution—not just picking up gigs on the side. And they take their work seriously because doing an exceptional job isn't just professional pride. It's identity. Patient lives are on the line, even when those patients are hypothetical scenarios used to train an AI system. The rigor doesn't change.

That's why we're building Automate.clinic as a practice, not a platform.

A new kind of medical practice

Automate.clinic is built on a simple belief: doctors should be practicing at the top of their license—including when they're training AI.

That means intellectually challenging work. Not routine cases or mindless data entry, but complex clinical scenarios that require real diagnostic acumen. Evaluating AI outputs. Identifying subtle errors. Applying the kind of judgment that only comes from years of clinical experience.

It also means community. We were never meant to practice alone. One of the things doctors miss most about traditional practice is the electricity of hallway consults and case conferences—learning from peers, pressure-testing your thinking, staying sharp. We're building that into how Automate.clinic works. Our physicians engage directly with each other across specialties, discuss challenging cases, and shape collective best practices.

And it means respect. Flexible work that fits around your life. No productivity quotas, no endless documentation, no rushing.

Over the past few months, nearly 300 doctors have applied to join us. That's a signal that physicians want to be part of this—not as an afterthought, but as central players in how these tools get built.

For doctors: how it works

Doctors apply to join the practice. If approved, they're invited into our community—a private space where physicians connect with each other, learn about upcoming projects, and get matched to work that fits their specialty and interests.

But the community isn't just about project work. We're building Automate in the open with our doctors. That means they get to peek behind the curtain: how we're thinking about the business, what we're learning from clients, how we're designing the platform, what's working and what isn't. They're not just contractors doing tasks—they're co-builders helping us figure out what a new kind of medical practice should look like.

Taking care of doctors

We're deeply inspired by Doximity's relationship with the physicians who built their community—and how Doximity rewarded those doctors when the company went public. We don't have a formal plan to share at this stage, but I'll say this: taking care of the doctors who make Automate.clinic possible isn't something we take lightly as an afterthought. We’re founded by doctors. It's in our DNA from day one.

Our team

We're thrilled to welcome several new team members:

Sheli Wibaux, COO – Sheli and I built Sana Care, a virtual-first primary care and care navigation service, together from the ground up for the nationwide members of Sana Benefits. I couldn't ask for a better partner to help scale Automate.clinic.

Dr. Josh Emdur, Chief Medical Officer – Josh is a board-certified family medicine physician who served as Chief Medical Officer at SteadyMD, where he built and led a nationwide network of clinicians. He's a practicing doc licensed in all 50 states, led Colorado's COVID testing infrastructure for 5 million residents, and is the most pro-doctor doctor I know. His experience scaling physician teams while maintaining quality is exactly what we need.

Florian Fangohr, Design – Florian and I have worked together since 2009. He designed Sherpaa's entire brand and product experience, and he's bringing that same thoughtfulness to everything we're building at Automate.clinic.

Natalie Piontek, Engineer – Natalie is our first engineer, previously at HealthJoy. She's building the infrastructure that will let us scale while maintaining the quality our physician network and clients expect.

Join us

For doctors: If you're a physician who wants intellectually challenging work, genuine community with peers, and the chance to shape how AI understands medicine—we'd love to hear from you. Apply to join the practice →

For AI companies: If you're building healthcare AI and need scalable access to high-quality clinical expertise, let's talk. Get in touch →