Graici Nabs $7.5M to Fix Medicaid's Renewal Crisis With AI

CLEVELAND, OH – February 03, 2026 – As state governments grapple with an unprecedented administrative challenge that threatens to strip healthcare from millions, Cleveland-based AI data company Graici has secured $7.5 million in Series A funding to deploy a novel solution. The investment, led by the healthcare-focused firm Santé Ventures, aims to fuel Graici's mission to automate the complex and often fraught process of Medicaid renewal and redetermination.

The funding marks a significant vote of confidence in Graici's technology and its founder, Steve McHale, a serial entrepreneur with a track record of success in the health data space. As part of the investment, Santé's Founding Managing Director, Dr. Joe Cunningham, will join Graici's Board of Directors, bringing deep industry expertise to the young company.

Graici is tackling a problem of immense scale and human consequence. The company's platform is designed to prevent eligible individuals from losing their essential health coverage due to procedural hurdles, a common occurrence in the current system.

A National Healthcare Challenge

The need for a solution like Graici's has never been more acute. Following the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, states resumed the monumental task of redetermining eligibility for every person enrolled in Medicaid—a process known as the "unwinding." The continuous enrollment provision enacted during the pandemic had paused these checks, leading to a surge in Medicaid rolls.

Now, state agencies are sifting through tens of millions of cases, a process that has been plagued by administrative friction, outdated systems, and communication breakdowns. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has projected that approximately 15 million people could lose their coverage during this period. Critically, many of these individuals remain eligible but are disenrolled for procedural reasons, such as a missed piece of mail, a failure to submit a form on time, or confusion about the complex requirements.

This administrative tangle creates a cascade of negative consequences. Eligible individuals and families lose access to critical medical care, state governments expend enormous resources on a burdensome manual process, and health plans face uncertainty and disruption in care continuity for their members.

A New Approach with 'Agentic AI' and Data Wallets

Graici proposes to cut through this complexity with its proprietary technology, the Adaptive Data Wallet™. Powered by what the company calls "agentic AI," the system is designed to create a secure, consent-based digital file for each individual, containing the health, economic, and personal information necessary to verify Medicaid eligibility.

Instead of beneficiaries and caseworkers manually hunting for pay stubs, residency documents, and other records, Graici's AI agents work to acquire, secure, and activate this "whole-life data" automatically. The platform then uses this verified intelligence to automate the renewal and redetermination process, ensuring that people maintain critical coverage with minimal friction.

"Whole-life data reveals what fragmented systems cannot," said Steve McHale, Graici's founder, in a statement. "Graici assembles and activates data agentically and ethically — so people get clarity and support at the speed of need, empowering institutions to serve with confidence and precision."

This approach aims to shift the paradigm from a reactive, paper-based system to a proactive, data-driven one, reducing the burden on both individuals and the state agencies that serve them.

A Founder's Second Act in Health Data

The ambitious vision for Graici is backed by a founder with a history of building transformative companies in the health data sector. Steve McHale previously co-founded Explorys in 2009, a healthcare big data pioneer that grew out of a partnership with The Cleveland Clinic. Explorys built one of the world's largest clinical databases before being acquired by IBM in 2015.

It was during his time at Explorys, analyzing vast datasets including Medicaid information, that McHale reportedly gained insight into the health disparities and systemic barriers facing under-resourced populations. That experience, combined with his nonprofit work, informed the creation of Graici as a vehicle for powering "inclusive prosperity."

The lead investor, Santé Ventures, is also familiar with McHale's track record, having been an early investor in Explorys. This long-standing relationship underscores their belief in his ability to execute on a grand scale.

"AI is one of the greatest innovations of the 21st century," stated Dr. Joe Cunningham. "But solving healthcare's most persistent challenges requires technology built by leaders who understand both the human stakes and the operational realities. I've worked with Steve McHale for 20 years, and he is one of the rare founders capable of delivering transformational impact at scale."

Navigating Data, Privacy, and Public Trust

The concept of assembling an individual's "whole-life data" inevitably raises questions about privacy, security, and the ethical use of artificial intelligence. In a field where data breaches are common and algorithmic bias is a significant concern, building public trust is paramount.

Graici's leadership emphasizes that its model is fundamentally built on consent and security. The "Adaptive Data Wallet" is designed to be controlled by the individual, and data is activated "agentically and ethically" to serve their needs. The goal is not simply to aggregate data, but to use it to drive measurable, positive outcomes, such as securing and maintaining health benefits.

This consent-based framework is Graici's answer to the inherent tension between data-driven efficiency and individual privacy. By positioning the individual as the agent of their own data, the company hopes to build a new standard for intelligence that is both powerful and accountable. The success of this model will depend on its ability to deliver on its promises of security and ethical stewardship while navigating the complex regulatory landscapes of healthcare and public benefits.

With $7.5 million in new capital, Graici is now positioned to scale its operations and prove that its AI-powered approach can make a meaningful dent in the Medicaid redetermination crisis. For the millions of Americans navigating the complexities of healthcare access, the success of such ventures could mean the difference between maintaining coverage and falling through the cracks.