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§ Private Profile · San Francisco, CA, USA
AI technology company using ambient sensors to optimize operating room efficiency for hospitals and health systems.
Based in San Francisco, California, Apella Technology develops artificial intelligence and computer vision software utilizing ambient sensors to optimize operating room efficiency and surgical workflows for hospitals. The enterprise software platform captures real-time data to help perioperative teams analyze surgical procedures, reduce room turnover times, and improve clinical decision-making. To scale its deployments across multiple health systems, the company has raised more than $100 million in total funding, including a $21 million Series A and an $80 million Series B equity and venture debt round. Apella Technology is backed by prominent venture capital firms such as Founders Fund, 8VC, Vensana Capital, and Casdin Capital. The organization recently expanded its leadership by appointing Kevin Sowers, president of the Johns Hopkins Health System, to its board of directors. Apella Technology was founded in 2019 by David Schummers and Colin Davitian.
Apella Technology has raised $101.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Apella Technology has raised $101.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Apella Technology has raised $101.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Apella Technology's investors include Corey Mulloy, Casdin Capital, Roberta Schwartz, K2 HealthVentures, OpAmp Capital, Operator Partners, PFM Health Sciences, Upside Partnership, Vensana Capital, Adjuvant Capital, Domain Associates, HighlandX.
Apella Technology has raised $101.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $80.0M Series B in January 2026.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 11, 2026 | $80M Series B | Corey Mulloy | Casdin Capital, Roberta Schwartz, K2 Healthventures, Opamp Capital, Operator Partners, PFM Health Sciences, Upside Partnership, Vensana Capital | Announced |
| Dec 1, 2021 | $21M Series A | Casdin Capital | Adjuvant Capital, Domain Associates, HighlandX, L'Attitude Ventures, Vensana Capital, Charles Petty, Operator Partners, PFM Health Sciences, Twine Ventures, Upside Partnership | Announced |
Apella Technology is a healthtech company that builds an AI-powered operating room (OR) management platform to optimize surgical coordination, scheduling, and staffing in busy hospitals.[1][2][5] It integrates ambient AI, computer vision, and electronic health record (EHR) data to deliver real-time operational intelligence, automating tasks to eliminate delays, reduce staff burnout, and increase capacity for safer patient care.[1][4][5] Serving OR leaders, charge nurses, physicians, pre-op/post-op teams, schedulers, and turnover staff, Apella solves systemic inefficiencies like inaccurate scheduling and coordination gaps that disrupt hospital workflows.[5] The company, founded around 2019-2020 with 52 employees and offices in Oakland and San Francisco, recently closed a Series A round and earned recognition on *Fast Company*'s 2025 Most Innovative Companies list in healthcare.[1][2][4]
Apella was co-founded by David Schummers, its CEO, who identified a critical gap in healthcare data usage: unlike consumer tech giants like Google and Amazon that leverage interaction data to improve experiences, ORs lacked systematic quality control and real-time data to enhance surgery outcomes.[1][4] Established in 2019 or 2020 in Oakland, California, the idea emerged from recognizing how ambient technologies could generate new operational data to make surgical teams more efficient, turning every case into an opportunity for systemic improvement.[2][4][6] Early traction included partnerships with innovative hospitals, bolstered by a Series A funding round to deploy its computer vision and machine learning platform across ORs.[4]
Apella stands out in surgical tech through these key strengths:
Apella rides the wave of AI-driven healthcare optimization, where ambient technologies address surging demand for surgical capacity amid staffing shortages and rising procedure volumes.[1][4] Its timing aligns with post-pandemic OR backlogs and EHR maturity, enabling seamless data integration that legacy systems can't match.[5] Market forces like value-based care and burnout reduction favor Apella, as hospitals seek tools to maximize existing resources without new hires.[1][5] By influencing OR ecosystems through better data flywheels—where each surgery improves the next—Apella accelerates industry-wide efficiency, akin to how data transformed e-commerce, positioning it as a leader in surgical healthtech.[4]
Apella's trajectory points to scaled deployments in major health systems, with Series A funds fueling advanced applications like predictive analytics and expanded AI features.[4] Trends in ambient AI, multimodal data (vision + EHR), and regulatory pushes for operational efficiency will propel growth, potentially capturing a slice of the $100B+ perioperative market. Its influence may evolve from niche innovator to standard OR infrastructure, enabling hospitals to serve more patients safely. As David Schummers notes, Apella turns OR chaos into precision, proving AI can humanize high-stakes healthcare.[1]