A Seattle startup that ships tablets, exercise bands and oxygen monitors straight to the homes of seniors with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has landed $10 million to take its model national. Kivo Health announced the Series A round this week, aiming to expand a program that pairs live, therapist-led video sessions with remote monitoring for a disease that remains the third leading cause of death globally and the fifth leading cause of death in the United States.
The round was led by Allumia Ventures, with Corewell Health Ventures, Y Combinator, Heuristic Capital and MassMutual Ventures also participating, according to Axios. The outlet reported the raise brings Kivo's total funding to just over $16 million, while Home Health Care News put the company's overall financing at $16 million. As GeekWire first reported, Kivo was launched in 2023 by Dr. Victor Sadauskas and co-founder Vaughn Koch, and the company now has roughly 50 employees, including clinicians.
COPD is an incurable lung disease that damages the airways and air sacs, making breathing progressively harder over time, with symptoms that include shortness of breath, a persistent cough and fatigue, per GeekWire. Sadauskas previously worked as an emergency medicine physician for Kaiser Permanente and as a senior investment fellow with Life Science Angels, while Koch is a serial entrepreneur who sold Movity to Trulia in 2010, according to the same report. Sadauskas said combining clinical care with artificial intelligence can scale accessible, proactive care to seniors, improve their symptoms and reduce avoidable costs.
What's Actually in the Box
Patients enrolled in Kivo's program receive a kit that includes a cellular-connected tablet, exercise bands and a pulse oximeter, according to Axios. GeekWire reported that the company's nine-week program centers on therapist-led live video sessions focused on exercise, breathing techniques and disease management, followed by ongoing AI-assisted support once the formal program ends.
The two outlets that broke the funding news described the visit schedule differently. Axios reported that most patients see clinicians every two weeks for the first two months, with visits potentially shifting to monthly for at least eight months after that. Home Health Care News, by contrast, reported that patients virtually meet with their respiratory therapists twice a week for nine weeks. Kivo's program combines live, supervised sessions with remote monitoring.
Who's Paying for It
Kivo's program is covered by Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers, GeekWire reported, with Home Health Care News specifying that coverage extends to UnitedHealthcare, Humana, Blue Cross, Aetna, Priority Health and other major health plans. The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services describes pulmonary rehabilitation as a physician- or nonphysician-practitioner-supervised program for COPD and certain other chronic respiratory diseases intended to optimize physical and social performance, and notes that CMS reviews medical documentation for necessity and compliance with Medicare coverage criteria.
In 2012, Medicare beneficiaries with COPD received pulmonary rehabilitation at a rate of just 3.7%, according to GeekWire's reporting, underscoring how rarely the treatment reaches the patients who could benefit. A separate analysis cited by HCPLive found that only 1.5% of Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for COPD initiated rehabilitation within 90 days of discharge in 2014, and the outlet noted that the American Thoracic Society's 2023 guideline now strongly recommends offering patients a choice between center-based rehab and telerehabilitation.
Kivo's Numbers and a Crowded Field
Kivo's commissioned 2025 Opportunity Analysis estimates the company's model could lower annual health care spending by $8,245 per member, primarily by reducing inpatient and skilled-nursing-facility costs through fewer hospitalizations, emergency room visits and nursing-home stays, GeekWire reported. Fewer than 5% complete a pulmonary rehabilitation program, and Kivo is seeking to expand access to care. Kivo also said a peer-reviewed study found improvements in participants' symptoms, physical function and mental health, reporting an 88% median attendance rate with no major adverse events and minor adverse events in just 1% of participants.
Kivo isn't alone chasing this market. Axios reported that investors and strategic buyers continue to back digital respiratory care, pointing to Wellinks, another respiratory-care health tech company, closing a $10 million Series B round in August, Sword's $285 million acquisition of Kaia Health in January, and ResMed's acquisition of at-home diagnostics provider VirtuOx in May 2025. Kivo said it plans to expand nationally and extend its care model beyond COPD into other costly chronic conditions affecting older adults, according to Home Health Care News.
