AI Takes on Cancer Care Gridlock: RISA Labs Lands $11.1M

PALO ALTO, CA – January 13, 2026 – RISA Labs, a technology firm aiming to overhaul the administrative backbone of cancer treatment, has secured an $11.1 million Series A funding round. The investment, co-led by heavyweights Cencora Ventures and Optum Ventures, signals a significant bet on the power of artificial intelligence to solve one of healthcare's most persistent and costly problems: administrative delay.

The capital infusion, which also saw participation from Oncology Ventures, Z21 Ventures, and General Catalyst co-founder John Simon, is set to accelerate the nationwide deployment of RISA's AI-powered operating system. The platform is designed to untangle the notoriously complex web of workflows that can stall the delivery of life-saving therapies to cancer patients, targeting clinics, health systems, and specialty pharmacies across the United States.

Slashing the High Cost of Waiting

In oncology, time is the most critical and least renewable resource. Delays in starting treatment, often caused by administrative hurdles, can have dire consequences for patients and create immense financial and operational strain on providers. The process of securing prior authorization (PA) from insurance payers is a well-documented bottleneck, with studies showing that the majority of oncologists report treatment delays directly attributable to PA processes. For patients, this can mean waiting weeks for an approval that, while often eventually granted, introduces dangerous uncertainty and anxiety into their care journey.

RISA Labs confronts this challenge head-on. Its platform, managed through a command center called BOSS Console, automates and orchestrates the end-to-end process of patient access, benefits verification, and prior authorization. According to the company, the results at early partner sites have been transformative. One major oncology practice reported freeing up approximately 80% of administrative staff time previously mired in these tasks. This has allowed for the repurposing of more than 20 full-time employees to higher-value, patient-facing work.

Furthermore, the system has demonstrated a powerful impact on financial and operational outcomes, with reported denial reductions of up to 40% and a first-pass approval rate reaching an impressive 97.8%. The average backlog for patient authorizations, once a staggering eight days, has been slashed to under 24 hours, with the company aiming to bring that figure down to less than two hours.

"In our vision for oncology, there are two sides to every patient's journey: getting them on the right therapy faster and deepening our understanding of the disease for the next patient through data," said Kshitij Jaggi, CEO of RISA Labs, in a statement. This dual focus highlights the platform's ambition not only to streamline current processes but also to create a richer data ecosystem for future medical advancements.

The Smart Money's Strategic Play

The composition of the investor syndicate is as telling as the funding amount itself. The co-leads, Cencora Ventures and Optum Ventures, represent two of the most influential spheres in American healthcare: pharmaceutical services and insurance. Cencora, a global pharmaceutical solutions giant, and Optum, the health services innovation arm of the nation's largest insurer, UnitedHealth Group, bring more than just capital. Their investment represents a deep strategic alignment and provides RISA Labs with unparalleled access to industry expertise, data, and distribution channels.

Optum Ventures has a track record of backing companies that leverage data and AI to solve systemic inefficiencies, viewing such technology as a cornerstone of modernizing care delivery and payment models. For Cencora, whose business is deeply intertwined with the logistics of getting complex specialty drugs to patients, a solution that removes access friction is a natural fit.

"As the treatments available for oncology patients increase in number and complexity, solutions to help streamline operational processes and enable efficient access to therapy become vital," noted Jason Dinger, Senior Vice President of Strategic Execution at Cencora. This investment underscores a growing consensus among industry leaders: the administrative burden in specialized medicine has become unsustainable, and AI-driven automation is no longer a futuristic concept but a present-day necessity for both patient outcomes and financial viability.

An Adaptive AI for a Dynamic Environment

What sets RISA's platform apart, according to the company, is its dynamic and adaptive nature. Rather than a rigid software program, it is described as an AI operating system powered by a team of intelligent agents. These agents connect directly to a cancer center's existing Electronic Medical Record (EMR), payer portals, and other systems. They are designed to "read, reason, and act" - gathering necessary clinical data, preparing and submitting authorization requests, and tracking their status across dozens of different digital environments.

Critically, the system is built to adapt in real time. When a payer changes a submission form, an EMR updates its interface, or a clinical rule is modified, the AI agents adjust their behavior without requiring manual reprogramming. This adaptability is crucial in a healthcare ecosystem characterized by fragmentation and constant change. This is what CTO Kumar Shivang calls a "low-entropy thinking information machine," designed to absorb the immense complexity of modern cancer care, which can involve thousands of potential care paths for a single patient.

This level of interoperability is a long-sought goal in health tech, often facilitated by modern standards like FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources). By leveraging such frameworks alongside advanced AI, the platform can navigate the disparate systems that have historically created data silos and manual workarounds for healthcare staff.

Navigating the Ethical and Regulatory Maze

The introduction of powerful AI into a mission-critical field like oncology is not without its challenges. Operating in this space requires navigating a complex patchwork of regulations, including HIPAA for data privacy, as well as emerging state and federal rules governing the use of clinical algorithms. Concerns around data security, algorithmic bias, and accountability are paramount.

RISA Labs appears to address this by emphasizing visibility and control through its BOSS Console. The company states that every action taken by the AI is traceable and audit-ready, giving institutional leaders a clear view of what the system did and why. This transparency is essential for ensuring that the AI's actions remain aligned with clinical standards and compliance mandates. The console also allows each institution to configure and tailor workflows, effectively enabling the AI to behave as a digital extension of its own operational team rather than a rigid, one-size-fits-all solution.

As AI becomes more integrated into healthcare, platforms that build in such safeguards and maintain a human-in-the-loop oversight capability will be best positioned to earn the trust of clinicians and patients. With plans to expand its AI-driven workflows deeper into the oncology ecosystem and next into specialty pharmacy operations, RISA's ability to balance powerful automation with rigorous compliance will be key to its long-term success.