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A Melbourne-based startup whose co-founders previously sold an online medical encyclopedia to TikTok owner ByteDance has seen its customised AI agents adopted by three emergency departments in Victoria, and NexusMD has just raised $6.3 million to deploy them in more.
Following support from Austrade and Invest Victoria in its early stages, NexusMD has secured further funding in the latest seed round led by Square Peg which is aimed at scaling the technology across more hospitals, while also expanding its suite of AI agents beyond the emergency department and into other critical hospital units.
The startup's enterprise-grade AI agents help automate administrative tasks for doctors, nurses, and medical staff, integrating directly with existing hospital systems in a bid to save clinicians time and reduce costs.
"Growing up in a family of doctors, I saw how deeply committed doctors were to helping people, yet how often they were overwhelmed by administrative tasks, leaving little time for themselves or their families," says NexusMD CEO and co-founder Mike Zhu
"That personal connection fuels my mission with NexusMD. We are building an AI healthcare company to transform care in Australia, and then we plan to expand globally.
"Our technology empowers doctors to confidently use AI to become the best clinicians they can be, while helping patients access faster, higher-quality care. Together, these advances will also drive meaningful, long-term economic benefits for hospitals."
Processing clinical content and medical information captured through ambient listening and image-based text from diverse sources, the agents synthesise the information into structured clinical notes and what the company claims to be accurate clinical coding.
The company reports it adheres to Australian Privacy Principles (APP) and HIPAA standards, and has achieved ISO 27001 certification, offering on-premises deployment to ensure robust data security and compliance.
For its current deployments in Victorian hospitals, the technology has been automating tasks, streamlining clinical documentation, providing real-time insights, and improving operational efficiency for the past nine months.
"By introducing NexusMD’s AI capabilities, we improved emergency department consultation efficiency by 30 per cent, and simultaneously increased our physician workplace satisfaction," says Dr Warwick Dobson, an emergency medicine specialist at Peninsula Private Hospital.
"Administratively, NexusMD also provides us with more comprehensive and accurate ED medical notes, which reduces legal risk."
Two of NexusMD's three co-founders, Mike Zhu and Neo Nie, were also co-founders of medical information platform Baikemy Net which was acquired by ByteDance for an undisclosed sum in 2020. The startup's third co-founder, Kevin Sun, is an expert in AI and big data R&D.
"The problems in healthcare are acute and they affect all of our lives," says Square Peg partner James Tynan.
"We need a solution that provides relief to overworked clinicians, allowing them to focus on caring for patients.
"Mike and his team's powerful ability to put AI to work and their empathy for clinicians working in the hospital system make Nexus the perfect vehicle to solve these problems."
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