KenSci

KenSci developed a machine learning and artificial intelligence platform for healthcare that predicts clinical, operational and financial risk. The platform ingests, transforms and integrates data from disparate health sources — electronic medical records, claims, billing, pharmacy, wearable/patient device and psychosocial data, as well as public records, real-time and unstructured data — automating data preparation and mapping it into industry-standard schema so it is ready for machine learning models. A library of pre-built models and modular applications was designed to integrate into existing clinical and administrative workflows, and the platform was built for customization so customers could develop their own applications.

The company positioned its work around descriptive and predictive analytics that help health organizations modernize workflows and support a data-driven, value-based care model, with stated aims of improving patient experience, diagnostic accuracy and operational efficiency. KenSci emphasized responsible and explainable AI models intended to make risk-based prediction more efficient, fair and accountable. Its technology was backed by peer-reviewed research published through IEEE, ACM, AMIA and other venues.

At the time of its 2021 acquisition by Tegria, KenSci employed roughly 50 data scientists, clinicians, engineers and AI infrastructure specialists, most of them in Seattle, with additional teams in Singapore and Hyderabad, India.

Founding story

KenSci was founded in 2015 by two childhood friends: Samir Manjure, a longtime former Microsoft executive who served as CEO, and Ankur Teredesai, a University of Washington Tacoma professor who served as CTO. The company was incubated at the University of Washington's Center for Data Science at UW Tacoma and was designed on the cloud with support from Microsoft's Azure4Research grant program.

Business model

KenSci sold an AI/analytics platform and prediction applications to healthcare organizations, deployed cloud-natively on Microsoft Azure, with pre-built models and modular solutions that integrate into customer workflows and can be extended with customer-built applications.

Revenue came from selling its healthcare AI platform and predictive analytics applications to provider, payer and medical device organizations; Tegria declined to disclose revenue metrics for KenSci at the time of the acquisition.

Traction

By early 2019 the company employed more than 50 people and had raised roughly $30 million in total, with customers including health systems such as NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Health Promotion Board Singapore. At acquisition in 2021 its customer base spanned providers, payers and medical device companies.

Latest developments

On June 24, 2021, Tegria — a more than 3,000-person health services company launched by Providence in October 2020 — announced it had acquired KenSci for undisclosed terms, adding AI and analytics capability alongside its EHR optimization, managed services and revenue cycle management offerings. Sudarshan Chitre became CEO, the co-founders departed, and KenSci was to continue supporting existing customers while building combined offerings with Tegria. Cascadia Capital and McDermott Will & Emery advised Tegria; Brentwood Capital Advisors and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati advised KenSci.