H1 raises $40 million, says unique doctor data beats AI copycats

H1 is betting that the next durable software moat in health care is not code, but the doctor graph underneath it. The New York-based company said it raised $40 million in a round led by CVS Health Ventures, a move that underscores how strategic investors are still willing to back software businesses when the underlying data is hard to replicate.

Chief executive Ariel Katz has argued that the market is treating all SaaS companies too much alike. H1’s pitch rests on the idea that provider matching, directory accuracy and doctor identity data are far harder to copy than workflow software alone. The company says its platform connects life sciences companies, payers, providers and patients to the right doctor across clinical trials, medical affairs, commercialization, referrals and care navigation.

That data story already reaches deep into health care’s commercial plumbing. H1 says 85% of the top 20 pharma companies and 9 out of 10 of the top health plans use its platform. The company also says it is profitable and well on its way to becoming an above Rule of 40 company in 2026, a sign that growth and profitability are both moving in the right direction as software investors favor more disciplined economics.

The CVS relationship gives the deal immediate strategic value. CVS Health Ventures, the corporate venture capital platform of CVS Health in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, says it invests in startups that make health care simpler, more accessible and affordable. H1 and CVS Health had already worked together on an AI model designed to improve healthcare provider directory accuracy, a stubborn operational problem that can affect appointment scheduling, referral management, network adequacy compliance and patient access.

The financing also follows a year of expansion on the data side. H1 acquired Veda in 2025 and Ribbon Health in January 2025, part of a push to deepen its provider-data capabilities. Founded in 2017 by Katz and Ian Sax, the company is now making a broader case for the post-AI venture market: investors may be skeptical of generic workflow software, but they are still ready to fund SaaS companies that control exclusive data sets, especially in health care, where the information itself can be the competitive moat.