Ferry Health raises $9M to book doctor appointments so patients don’t have to

Getting a specialist appointment in the US can take hours of phone calls, outdated insurance directories, and a fair amount of luck. Ferry Health thinks it has a better answer, and it now has $9 million to prove it.

The San Francisco-based startup has come out of stealth with an AI agent that handles the administrative side of healthcare on behalf of patients. The seed round was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Index Ventures, with participation from Avid Ventures, SV Angel, Box Group, Asymmetric Capital, and several notable angels including Jay Desai and founders of Grow Therapy and Hex.

The company was founded in early 2024 by Mehul Mehta, his brother Keyur Mehta, and Andrew Buie. The idea came from personal experience. After a family hospitalization, Mehul saw how much coordination fell on patients and relatives, not clinicians. "Finding specialists, understanding costs, dealing with insurance all required countless phone calls," he said. "It all adds up to a serious hurdle."

How does it work?

Patients message Ferry, and Ferry does the rest. The platform identifies in-network providers, calls to verify location, subspecialty fit, and availability, then books the appointment. No hold music. No dead ends with retired physicians. The patient gets a confirmed slot without picking up the phone. Early users are already extending the platform beyond scheduling to cover imaging coordination and home health logistics.

Why does it matter?

Access friction is a real clinical problem. Delayed appointments often mean delayed diagnoses. One user, Jeremy Zhang, described using Ferry to manage his mother's orthopedic care: "When getting an appointment takes almost no effort, it's much easier to address a health issue instead of putting it off." That behavioral shift, from avoidance to action, is exactly where AI can have a measurable impact on outcomes.

The context

Ferry is entering the market as health systems and insurers across the world are asking the same question: how do you get patients from digital health insights into actual care? That question is as relevant in Riyadh and Dubai as it is in San Francisco. GCC health authorities investing in care navigation and patient engagement platforms will be watching closely. Ferry currently reaches over one million patients across all 50 US states, with a target of five million by year end. Partnerships span health systems, insurers, and care navigation platforms.