Carbon Health
Unicorn Β· $3.3BFounded 2015 Β· 1,080 employees on LinkedIn Β· 27 known investors
Carbon Health operates a chain of clinics offering urgent care, primary care, and chronic condition management, combining technology with in-person care to provide broader access to health services. It serves patients seeking everyday healthcare across acute, primary, and chronic needs.
Also known as Carbon Health Inc. Β· Carbon Health Technologies
Founders & leadership
Carbon Health was founded in 2015 by Eren Bali.
Investors Β· 27
Also in the syndicate Β· 7
Valuation Β· disclosed
Disclosed eventsSource: SEC prospectus filings, and round valuations the company or its investors disclosed β follow each entry's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Carbon Health Inc. is an American chain of primary care and urgent care clinics, headquartered in San Francisco, that combines physical clinics with telemedicine and app-based services. Founded in 2015, it began as a software platform and mobile app for medical records, telehealth, doctor-patient messaging and scheduling, with the team validating the product by operating a private clinic that saw roughly 750 patients. The company positions itself as a technology-first provider that meets patients across virtual, in-person and at-home settings while streamlining clinical workflows and administrative processes.
The care model spans retail clinics, pop-up and walk-up sites, app-based virtual visits, and, following 2021 acquisitions, device-driven chronic disease management and remote patient monitoring. Patients use the Carbon Health mobile app to schedule appointments, view health records, pay for services and complete telehealth visits; virtual visits were priced at $49 in 2020. In 2021 the company launched Carbon Health Connect, a partnership program that vets specialty groups and health systems in each market and integrates electronic health records and operational workflows so patients needing higher-acuity care can be referred, with an aim of urgent referrals within 48 hours.
After a period of rapid pandemic-era expansion, the company narrowed its scope, cutting staff in 2022 and 2023 and shuttering public health, remote patient monitoring, hardware and chronic care programs to focus on core primary and urgent care. It filed for Chapter 11 in February 2026 and emerged in May 2026 under new lender ownership.
Founding story
Carbon Health was founded in San Francisco in 2015 by Udemy co-founder Eren Bali, engineer Tom Berry and physician Greg Burell, initially to build software for medical practices; the team developed the platform by opening a private clinic that saw about 750 patients. In 2017 Bali was introduced to Dr. Caesar Djavaherian, an emergency medicine physician and owner of Direct Urgent Care, who had encountered problems with electronic health record systems and piloted the Carbon Health software in his clinics.
Business model
Carbon Health delivers care directly through owned and operated clinics supported by a proprietary technology platform, charging for in-person urgent, primary, pediatric and mental health visits as well as virtual visits, without membership requirements or hidden fees. It expands by opening clinics, acquiring local and regional practices, and affiliating with health systems, and has also piloted clinics inside retail partners' stores.
Revenue comes from patient care delivered in clinics and via telehealth, billed to insurance and patients; virtual visits through the mobile app were priced at $49 in 2020. Reported revenue was around $166 million in 2024 and about $154 million for the trailing twelve months to November 30, 2025.
Traction
Full-time staff doubled from 800 to 1,600 over the pandemic, and patient volume rose 129% between November 2020 and July 2021, excluding COVID-19 testing and vaccination users. In its first two months of COVID-19 response the company assessed over 14,000 coronavirus concerns and completed more than 12,000 tests. By 2023 it reported caring for more than a million patients in the US. The company reported a 92% clinician offer acceptance rate, half from internal referrals.
Latest developments
Carbon Health and 28 affiliated debtors filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions on February 2, 2026 in the Southern District of Texas, pursuing a dual-track debt-for-equity restructuring and court-supervised sale, with up to $19.5 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Future Solutions Investments. Filings listed assets and liabilities between $100 million and $500 million and more than 100,000 creditors. A bankruptcy judge approved the plan on May 29, 2026, transferring ownership to lenders with $33 million in new capital financing and a debt-for-equity exchange of over $100 million transferring assets to Future Solution Investments, LLC; the company emerged from Chapter 11 the same day, with new owners planning artificial intelligence investment. Alvarez & Marsal served as financial advisor and Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones as bankruptcy counsel.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Carbon Health has been one of the larger venture-funded, technology-enabled primary and urgent care chains in the US, at one point stating a goal of 1,500 clinics by 2025 to become the country's largest primary care provider and reaching a reported $3.3 billion valuation in 2021. It competes with tech-enabled primary care providers such as Forward and One Medical.
The company emphasizes an omnichannel model combining clinics, virtual care and home-based monitoring under a single proprietary platform, without membership fees, alongside curated referral networks that integrate with partner health systems to reduce care fragmentation.
Technology
A proprietary platform spanning a patient mobile app for scheduling, records access, payments, messaging and telehealth, plus a clinician-facing alternative to traditional EHR systems designed to reduce administrative workload and clinician burnout. Bidirectional EHR and operational integrations support referrals to partner specialists and hospitals. Acquisitions of Steady Health and Alertive Healthcare added device-driven chronic disease management and remote patient monitoring, though those programs were later discontinued. Consumer app traction reported includes a 4.8 rating with 16,020 reviews on Apple and roughly 425,000 Android downloads with a 3.9 rating.
Go-to-market
Growth has combined organic clinic openings, acquisitions of regional urgent care chains and digital health startups, partnerships with health systems through the Carbon Health Connect program, a retail pilot with CVS Health, and consumer acquisition via its mobile app and pop-up/walk-up sites.
Consumers seeking urgent, primary, pediatric and mental health care, including patients across in-person, virtual and at-home settings; the company also works with health systems and specialty groups as referral partners and with public agencies for COVID-19 testing.
Geography
Headquartered in San Francisco. The clinic footprint grew to 83 clinics in 12 states in August 2021 and 90 clinics in 14 states by October/November 2021, and more than 125 clinics in 13 states in 2023; as of the 2026 bankruptcy filing the company operated 96 clinics in 7 states. Virtual care expanded to the 10 largest states in 2020 and 23 states by 2021, and its app is available in more than 40 countries.
History
In 2017 Carbon Health released a mobile app for direct doctor communication as an alternative to traditional EHR systems. In 2018 Carbon Health merged with Direct Urgent Care, making Djavaherian a fourth co-founder and giving the company seven clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area. It announced a $30 million Series B in 2019, a $28 million Series B extension in 2020, a $100 million round later in 2020 and a $350 million round in 2021. During COVID-19 it partnered with Alto Pharmacy on home test kits (subsequently suspended by the FDA along with other home kits) and published an open-source, HIPAA-compliant repository of COVID-19 clinical data. Footprint grew from 49 clinics in April 2021 to 90 full-service clinics in 14 states by October 2021 and more than 125 clinics in 13 states by 2023. In August 2024 Bali stepped down as CEO to return to Udemy as CTO, remaining executive chairman, with COO Kerem Ozkay named CEO. The company filed for Chapter 11 in February 2026 and emerged that May.
Risks & controversies
Post-pandemic demand normalization and tighter healthcare capital markets pressured the balance sheet, prompting an 8% workforce reduction in June 2022, a further cut of more than 200 employees and corporate restructuring in January 2023, and closure of public health, remote patient monitoring, hardware and chronic care lines. The clinic model carries a large fixed-cost base of leases, clinicians and compliance that cannot scale down quickly. At filing, coverage derived from court papers pointed to roughly $77 million of secured term debt, about $36 million of unsecured obligations and about $15 million of clinic-level secured facilities, with a landlord dispute cited as freezing roughly $1.9 million of cash. In March 2020 the FDA suspended sales and distribution of home COVID-19 test kits from Carbon Health and other companies, as the kits were not FDA authorized.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Founder mafia
4 people who came through Carbon Health went on to found or lead other companies.
Competitors Β· 2
by search overlap
Companies competing with Carbon Health for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline Β· 15
launches, deals, and filingsThe plan transferred ownership to lenders, provided $33 million in new capital financing and effected a debt-for-equity exchange of over $100 million transferring assets to Future Solution Investments, LLC; the company emerged from Chapter 11 the same day.
$33M source β
Carbon Health Technologies and 28 affiliated debtors filed voluntary petitions, pursuing a dual-track debt-for-equity restructuring plan and asset sale, with up to $19.5 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Future Solutions Investments. Filings listed assets and liabilities of $100 million to $500 million and more than 100,000 creditors.
$19.5M source β
Co-founder Eren Bali left the CEO role to return to Udemy as CTO while remaining executive chairman; COO Kerem Ozkay became CEO.
The company reduced headcount by more than 200 and shut down public health, remote patient monitoring, hardware and chronic care programs to focus on core primary and urgent care.
Pilot clinic model inside CVS retail stores, tied to a $100 million investment led by CVS Health Ventures.
A referral and affiliation program integrating EHRs and operations with specialists and health systems; Carbon Health and John Muir Health planned 15 to 20 new East Bay clinics owned and operated by Carbon Health.
Acquired Southern Arizona Urgent Care's nine Tucson clinics and Med7 Urgent Care's four Sacramento clinics, bringing the total to 83 clinics across 12 states.
The round valued the company at a reported $3.3 billion and funded nationwide clinic and technology expansion.
$350M source β
Acquisition of virtual diabetes management startup Steady Health added device-driven chronic disease management.
Acquisition of remote patient monitoring vendor Alertive Healthcare expanded at-home monitoring capabilities.
Existing investor Data Collective led a $28 million extended Series B, bringing total funding to $75 million; proceeds supported COVID-19 testing and virtual care expansion.
$28M source β
Kits were distributed in California; the FDA subsequently suspended sales and distribution of home testing kits from Carbon Health and others.
The merger added seven Bay Area clinics and made Caesar Djavaherian a fourth co-founder.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- Carbon Healthfiercehealthcare.com Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Carbon Health do?
- Carbon Health is a US primary and urgent care provider pairing brick-and-mortar clinics with an app-based virtual care platform.
- Who founded Carbon Health?
- Carbon Health was founded by Eren Bali in 2015.
- Who are Carbon Health's investors?
- Carbon Health's investors include 500 Emerging Europe, 500 Global, Akkadian Ventures, Annex Investments, Builders VC, DCVC (Data Collective), e2vc, Green Meadow Ventures and 12 more.