Hospital Management

knownwell buys AI-driven obesity care platform Alfie

The company’s ambulatory care strategy involves the establishment of six to ten primary care clinics in the California region by 2030.

Primary care and metabolic health services provider knownwell has acquired virtual obesity management clinic Alfie Health.

The financial specifics of this transaction remain undisclosed.

Alfie’s purchase is expected to strengthen knownwell's existing capabilities in delivering metabolic health treatment.

The acquired company recommends ways to enable patients to lose weight, using its proprietary artificial intelligence (AI)-based ObesityRx platform.

This platform will now be integrated into knownwell's care model.

ObesityRx uses patient medical history to generate evidence-based recommendations, aiming to improve metabolic health sustainably.

According to knownwell, the integration of ObesityRx with knownwell's care model will improve its value-based care infrastructure, expedite clinical decision-making, and facilitate holistic metabolic healthcare as it scales.

Alfie Health founder and CEO Alexander Singh will be part of the knownwell team as analytics head.

Singh said: “This acquisition by knownwell helps us deliver on our mission to provide patients in need with best-in-class obesity management. knownwell’s leadership, clinical expertise, and hybrid model make them a leader in obesity management, and their hybrid model will strengthen our high-touch care approach to improve patient results.”

The latest deal comes alongside the appointment of James Chaukos as the chief operating officer and John Frager as the chief growth officer of knownwell.

These are knownwell’s first C-suite appointments since its establishment in 2022, expanding the executive leadership alongside knownwell’s founder and CEO Brooke Boyarsky Pratt, and co-founder and chief medical officer Dr Angela Fitch.

In December 2023, knownwell secured $20m in its Series A financing round, which was led by Andreesen Horowitz (a16z) Bio + Health.

Existing investors, including Flare Capital Partners, also contributed to the round.

knownwell founder and CEO Brooke Boyarsky Pratt said: “Weight management and primary care solutions are in higher demand than ever, which is why we’re expanding our leadership team to bring both James Chaukos and John Frager to knownwell to streamline our operations and empower our growth.”