AI medical transcription startup Lyrebird Health raises US$12m at US$50m valuation
The two-year-old startup currently processes around 30,000 consultations daily in Australia and is growing by more than 10 per cent monthly. The platform recorded 600,000 consultations in May.
The company’s AI-powered medical scribe – essentially an automated note-taking system – listens during consultations and produces written records, allowing doctors to focus more on patients than paperwork.
Chief executive and co-founder Kai Van Lieshout said the average clinician spends more than two hours a day on documentation rather than direct patient care.
“This administrative burden is driving talented healthcare professionals from the field at precisely the moment we need them most,” he said. “Our vision is global, but our mission is personal: support the people who care for people. Lyrebird is built in close partnership with clinicians, and that will never change.”
At Gold Coast Hospital, where the platform is used in outpatient clinics, a 22 per cent increase in patient throughput was reported. Hospital analysis showed 84 per cent of staff said the platform improved efficiency, while 79 per cent said it enhanced consultation quality. Sixty-eight per cent of patients surveyed said their clinician spent more time speaking directly with them.
Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service clinical director Dr James Wilson said clinicians “initially thought it was too good to be true” when they started using Lyrebird.
“Now they can’t imagine practising without it. The time savings translate directly to more patients receiving care,” he said.
Van Lieshout developed the concept in early 2023 during a two-week hackathon in the Startmate Student Fellowship, where he met co-founder Linus Talacko, a computer science student. The two later discovered they had attended the same primary and secondary schools.
Four months later, Lyrebird joined the Startmate Winter 23 cohort as one of 13 startups, securing initial funding and beginning trials with local GPs.
The funding round was led by Five V Capital and UK-based Octopus Ventures, with participation from Startmate. The capital will support product enhancements, improved integration with electronic medical record systems – the digital platforms used to store patient information – and expansion into the UK and Middle East markets.
Chris Gillings, partner at Five V Capital, will join Lyrebird’s board as part of the investment.
Octopus Ventures partner Uthish Ranjan said they were impressed by the startup’s early traction. “Their early success in the UK gives us strong conviction that they’re well-positioned to scale in our local market,” he said.
