As a kid, Havi Nguyen sometimes missed school to translate at doctor’s appointments, and was managing Medicaid paperwork for her family, who had recently immigrated from Vietnam. Whatever life in a new country threw at them, Nguyen as the eldest daughter was there—and the labyrinthine American health care system featured prominently in her world.
At 21, she started working at an early-stage health tech startup focused on therapy for children with autism. It was the depths of COVID, and it was clear to Nguyen there was a gap: There just weren’t enough therapists and technicians, and sometimes they would move on rapidly from one gig to another.
“The question I kept asking myself was: Who’s that one person in the child’s life who’s not going to turn away, and is able to be with them to deliver that care?” Nguyen said. “Parents were always willing to raise their hand and step up. They would consistently ask us: Is there a way for me to learn these skills? So, I thought: Could we design a care model where the person who wants to deliver care to the patient is already with them?”
The answer was Abby Care, an AI-native home care startup that trains family members to become certified, paid caregivers and supports them thereafter. Nguyen founded the company—which operates as a Medicaid provider—in 2022.
Now, Abby Care has raised an $82 million Series C, led by Transformation Capital, Fortune has exclusively learned. CVS Health Ventures, Frist Cressey Ventures, and Pivotal Ventures count among the company’s new investors, while existing investors Khosla Ventures, Thrive Capital, and Sequoia doubled down. The company works with health plans to arrange care at home for families that need it. In short, the hope is that by looping in patients, regulators, health plans, and family caregivers, there’s a view toward a health care system that works better for the most vulnerable.
“The companies that are really going to be able to succeed are companies that can think about designing the care model that brings all the stakeholders and the U.S. health care system together,” Nguyen said.
Much has been made of the pressures on the health care workforce in the U.S., from the burnout of doctors and nurses to the extant and looming labor shortages. The caregiving gap for patients at home is notably wide, said Justin Brock, general partner at CVS Health Ventures. Brock noted there are many possible competitors to Abby Care, from existing home health agencies to caregiver education platforms, but the need is simply massive.
“A traditional private duty nurse program only fills 65% of authorized shifts, which is crazy,” he told Fortune. “It’s really leaving so many medically complex members without consistent coverage… [Meanwhile] you have these tens of millions of family caregivers who are in the home, and a lot of them are already doing care.”
Among them, Maria Villegas Corrales, a mom in Colorado, whose daughter Mia was born with serious medical complexities that necessitated open heart surgery and a pacemaker in the first years of her life. She learned about Abby Care after Mia’s surgery in June 2024, and Corrales is clear: Guidance isn’t a given.
“Sometimes they just give you a little bag to go home and figure it out,” Corrales said. “It’s scary to go home and not be able to know what’s to be expected. And a lot of times it’s just learning on the run.”
Corrales said that becoming a paid caregiver has allowed her to be the best mother possible to Mia, and that a lot of families still have no idea: “Families can have the resources to be paid to care for their child, that’s number one, because a lot of people don’t know about this.”
It’s a lifelong relationship, of course, which Nguyen is attuned to.
“I always tell the team this: Abby Care isn’t just here to empower and pay family caregivers,” she said. “We’re ultimately here to make them feel like they can thrive and succeed.”
See you tomorrow,
Allie Garfinkle
X: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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VENTURE CAPITAL
‑ Zenzap, a New York-based developer of a workplace chat platform with AI agents, raised $44 million in funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, The Garage, Nir Zohar, and Yoram Tietz.
‑ EZ Bombs, an Orlando, Fla.-based maker of shelf-stable seasoning balls for Mexican dishes, raised $25 million in Series A funding led by CAVU Consumer Partners.
‑ Scimplify, a Bengaluru, India-based developer and manufacturer of advanced materials and specialty chemicals, raised $25 million in funding. Hitachi Ventures led the round and was joined by Henkel, Teknor Apex Company, Accel, 3one4 Capital, Bertelsmann India Investments, and Omnivore.
‑ Tamr, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of AI-powered data management software, raised $21 million in funding. Volition Capital led the round and was joined by existing investors.
‑ Switched Source, a Chicago-based developer of power-flow control technology for electric utilities, raised more than $17 million in funding. Cubit Capital led the round and was joined by ABB, Emerald Technology Ventures, Red Cedar Ventures, Southern States, Southwire Company, and other investors.
‑ Ubitium, a Düsseldorf, Germany-based developer of processors for autonomous machines, raised $14 million in seed funding. Ibex Investors led the round and was joined by OpenOcean, KBC Focus Fund, Runa Capital, Inflection, and Florian Seibel.
‑ Confido Health, a New York-based developer of AI agents for health care operations, raised $12.5 million in a Series A extension, bringing the round’s total to $22.5 million. Z47 led the extension and was joined by Justin Saks, Together Fund, and Blume Ventures.
‑ Othello, a New York- and Tel Aviv-based developer of AI sales coaching software, raised $8 million in seed funding. a16z speedrun and Owl Capital led the round and were joined by Long Journey Ventures, Andy Fang, Thomas Wolf, Ryan King, Chris Larsen, Philippe Bouaziz, Kevin Stein, and other investors.
‑ Marklo, a San Francisco-based developer of an AI marketing platform for brands using Shopify, raised $5 million in seed funding. Forerunner led the round and was joined by Freestyle Capital.
‑ RevRag AI, a Bengaluru, India-based developer of AI relationship managers for financial services providers, raised $2.5 million in seed funding. Accion Ventures led the round and was joined by Cedar Hill Capital, Wyser, and Venture Catalysts.
PRIVATE EQUITY
‑ FormativGroup, a portfolio company of Rockbridge Growth Equity, acquired Saige Consulting, a New York-based AI and technology consulting firm. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
‑ Mason Wells acquired Canworks, an Austin, Texas-based provider of digital printing services for aluminum beverage cans. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
‑ Vivify Specialty Ingredients, a portfolio company of Gryphon Investors, acquired AuNutra Industries, a Chino, Calif.-based supplier of botanical extracts and nutritional ingredients for the supplement industry. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
EXITS
‑ Precise Aerospace & Defense, a portfolio company of ATL Partners, acquired Precise Metal Products, a Phoenix-based manufacturer of airflow management components for aerospace and defense applications, from affiliates of Staple Street Capital. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
‑ Pear VC, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm, raised $333 million for its fifth fund focused on pre-seed and seed-stage companies.
PEOPLE
‑ Pear VC, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm, promoted Arash Afrakhteh, Ajay Kamat, and Shravan Reddy to general partner.