The life sciences industry continues to generate breakthrough specialty therapies, but the patient support infrastructure connecting those medicines to the people who need them has not kept pace. Siloed data, manual processes, and disconnected systems leave biopharma commercial teams operating without a unified view of the patient journey – a problem so acute that roughly 30% of patients who receive a specialty drug prescription never start that therapy, and 70% discontinue within the first few months. Courier Health addresses this gap directly with the only purpose-built patient experience platform for life sciences commercial teams, connecting disparate data sources, applying AI to proactively surface at-risk patients, and coordinating the full journey from prescription through long-term adherence. Companies using the platform have recorded gains exceeding 15% in patient start rates, a 67% reduction in time-to-start, and seven-fold increases in team productivity – outcomes that translate directly to patients accessing therapies they depend on. The New York City-based company quadrupled the number of therapies managed on its platform in 2025 and more than doubled its headcount to meet accelerating demand.
AlleyWatch sat down with Courier Health Founder and CEO Danny Sigurdson to learn more about the business, its future plans, the company’s recent funding round that brings the total funding raised to $70.5M, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We raised a $50M Series B led by Oak HC/FT, with participation from our existing investors Norwest and Work-Bench. We’re thrilled to partner with Oak HC/FT, a team that has a deep appreciation for what it takes to build lasting infrastructure and impact in healthcare, and we’re grateful to continue our partnership with Irem Rami from Norwest and Jess Lin from Work-Bench.
Tell us about the product or service that Courier Health offers.
Courier Health provides the only purpose-built technology platform for life sciences companies to engage and support patients. We integrate data across systems and leverage AI at every layer of the platform to orchestrate more seamless experiences. This means that biopharma commercial teams can more efficiently and effectively engage stakeholders across the patient journey to drive better health outcomes.
What inspired the start of Courier Health?
The life sciences industry has seen tremendous clinical advancements, but as therapies have gotten more specialized and patient journeys more complex, the technology enabling the critical commercial teams responsible for supporting patients and providers have fallen behind. Siloed data, manual processes, and limited visibility mean that even when a patient reaches diagnosis and prescription, 30% never start that therapy and 70% discontinue within the first few months. At the time of Courier Health’s founding, it was clear that the market – and most importantly, patients and loved ones – were demanding something better. Technology was also advancing to a point where it could deliver. It’s rare to have an opportunity to work at the intersection of solving real business problems, creating tangible value, and meaningfully impacting and helping peoples’ lives. It’s a unique and rewarding opportunity that we don’t take for granted.
How is Courier Health different?
Since day one, we’ve been on a mission to solve one of the most challenging and meaningful opportunities in healthcare, which is reinventing how the hundreds of millions of people living with rare diseases and chronic conditions are supported. We’re 100% focused on improving the biopharma patient experience, and we’ve built our system from the ground up to power more seamless journeys to critical therapies. That applies to everything from how we connect data, to how we design and structure the system to help Field Access and Patient Services teams prioritize their day, to how we leverage AI advancements to automate processes at scale.Our team operates in the same way: we focus on the outcome we’re trying to achieve and apply first principles thinking to come up with creative and impactful solutions.
What market does Courier Health target and how big is it?
Our answer here hasn’t changed much since our Series A! There are hundreds of biopharma manufacturers, thousands of specialty therapies on the market or in development, and hundreds of millions of patients and families who depend on these medicines. We remain laser focused on enabling and empowering commercial teams with the technology they need to be more efficient and effective and to improve the overall patient experience.
What’s your business model?
Our platform is licensed to biopharma companies. We also have an incredible Client Solutions team that partners with our customers from early conversations, implementation and go-live through steady-state and expansion. We’re proud our product is built and supported entirely in-house by our team here in New York.
How has the business changed since we last spoke after Courier Health’s Series A in the summer of 2024?
Our business and team have grown a ton, but our mission, and our commitment to innovating alongside our customers hasn’t changed at all. There’s incredible market momentum, and we’re moving fast to meet it. Last year, we quadrupled the number of platforms on our therapy and more than doubled our team to keep pace. We’ve strengthened our core offerings and continue to scale our AI capabilities to ensure our customers are successful.
We also hosted our 2nd annual Patient Innovators Summit last October here in NYC, including launching the first-ever Patient Innovators Awards, and just published our annual , benchmarking more than 170 biopharma commercial leaders around the state of the industry, AI, and more.
What was the funding process like?
Having strong client partners, program outcomes, and the continued support of Norwest and Work-Bench gave us a strong foundation to work from. We’re grateful that the process moved quickly, and that we found the right partner in Oak HC/FT, a firm with an incredible track record in healthcare that understands the opportunity and impact of what we’re building.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Time is always the biggest constraint in a startup environment! Fortunately, we were able to act opportunistically and meet with investors who understand the size and urgency of what we’re tackling.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
I think it ultimately comes down to the scale of the problem, the strength of our platform and team, and most importantly, the outcomes our customers are seeing. Companies who choose Courier Health are achieving double-digit improvements in start rates, 6-month persistency, and overall team productivity. Ultimately, that means patients can access therapies that meaningfully impact their lives, and what’s good for patients is good for business.
I think it ultimately comes down to the scale of the problem, the strength of our platform and team, and most importantly, the outcomes our customers are seeing. Companies who choose Courier Health are achieving double-digit improvements in start rates, 6-month persistency, and overall team productivity. Ultimately, that means patients can access therapies that meaningfully impact their lives, and what’s good for patients is good for business.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We remain focused on scaling our platform and AI advantage, attracting top-notch talent, and growing our customer base. On the product side, that means additional AI agents designed and trained specifically for this industry that can work autonomously to handle tasks such as intake processing, benefits checks, and responding to information requests. On the go-to-market side, we’re continuing to bring our technology to more customers searching for an innovative solution to power the patient experience.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that we’re hiring across almost every department! In the next six months, we’ll grow our team, move into new office space, and continue to challenge the status quo of how biopharma commercial teams operate.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
The word I probably use more than anything at Courier Health is “focus.” There is a saying I love, which is “more companies die of indigestion than starvation.” My advice to any startup would be the same thing that I tell my team: Stay maniacally focused on our customers and their outcomes. Get in the trenches with them, understand where their pain points are, and then work tirelessly to deliver the most innovative solution possible. The companies that earn customer trust will find a path forward.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We serve customers to ultimately serve patients. There is no shortage of opportunity for us to continue doing that, so it is our infinite north star. Near term, that means continued investment in our product and agentic capabilities, investing in enabling customers and partners to be successful with the platform, and continuing to hire and retain world-class talent here in New York City.
What’s your favorite spring destination in and around the city?
Washington Market Park in Tribeca. It’s great for kids, and they do a wonderful job with the flowers and local events. A perfect spring weekend for me is spending time outside with my family, and we often do that in that park.
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