Kivo Health

Emerging

Durham NC YC W23 Medicare-covered at-home pulmonary rehab for 16M US COPD patients shipping Kivo Kit; $475K MassMutual/Samsung NEXT-backed competing with Propeller Health for virtual respiratory rehabilitation at the 3-5% treatment gap.

Company Overview

About Kivo Health

Kivo Health is a Durham, North Carolina-based telehealth company — backed by Y Combinator (W23) with $475,000 raised from MassMutual Ventures, Samsung NEXT Ventures, Heuristic Capital, Quint Ventures, and SNR Ventures — providing Medicare-covered 8-week pulmonary rehabilitation programs to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, bronchitis, and other chronic lung conditions through an at-home telehealth delivery model that ships comprehensive Kivo Kits (containing an iPad pre-loaded with the Kivo platform and monitoring equipment) directly to patients' homes for virtual respiratory therapist sessions, structured exercise programs, and lung function monitoring. Founded in 2021 by founders with medical backgrounds and targeting the 16 million US patients with chronic lung conditions who represent $50 billion in annual healthcare spending.

Business Model & Competitive Advantage

Kivo Health's at-home pulmonary rehabilitation model addresses a significant access gap in chronic lung disease management: pulmonary rehabilitation (supervised exercise training, breathing technique instruction, and education for COPD and related conditions) is one of the most evidence-based, cost-effective interventions in respiratory medicine — peer-reviewed studies show 60-80% improvement in exercise capacity and quality of life metrics for patients who complete the program. However, only 3-5% of eligible COPD patients currently access pulmonary rehab due to transportation barriers, geographic remoteness from outpatient facilities, and the logistical difficulty of attending 18-36 outpatient sessions for elderly patients with significant physical limitations. Kivo delivers the same supervised exercise and education program through video sessions with licensed respiratory therapists, with the Kivo Kit's monitoring equipment (pulse oximeter, connected scale) enabling the therapist to track exercise response and safety remotely. Medicare coverage (Kivo bills through Medicare's established pulmonary rehabilitation reimbursement codes) eliminates the cost barrier for the predominantly Medicare-age COPD population.

Competitive Landscape 2025–2026

In 2025, Kivo Health competes in the at-home pulmonary rehabilitation, chronic disease telehealth, and remote respiratory therapy market with Propeller Health (digital therapeutics for respiratory disease, acquired by ResMed, NYSE: RMD), Hinge Health (musculoskeletal telehealth, $600M raised at $6.2B valuation, potential respiratory expansion), and traditional outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation programs at hospital systems for COPD patient care management. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' recognition of at-home pulmonary rehabilitation as a covered benefit provides the reimbursement foundation that enables Kivo's business model — the same coverage expansion pattern that has enabled other Medicare-reimbursed telehealth services to scale. MassMutual Ventures and Samsung NEXT Ventures' investments reflect the intersection of healthcare cost management (MassMutual's insurance risk interest in preventive care) and connected health technology (Samsung NEXT's digital health investment thesis). Y Combinator W23 backing connects Kivo with the digital health investor community. The 2025 strategy focuses on expanding the Medicare Advantage health plan partnerships for care management program integration, growing geographic coverage for COPD patient enrollment, and building the chronic respiratory disease monitoring platform beyond the initial 8-week rehabilitation intervention.

Curated content • Fact-checked and verified
Loading News...
Loading Culture...

Open Positions

Reddit Discussions

Loading Competitive Intelligence...

Key Differentiators

Emerging Innovator

Kivo Health is an emerging player bringing innovative solutions to the Healthcare market.

Frequently Asked Questions

Not So Random Others

Brisk

Consumer Food & Beverage
B2cManufacturingNorth AmericaFortune500

Brisk is a functional beverage brand offering ready-to-drink iced tea and juice drinks, jointly owned by PepsiCo and Unilever under the Lipton brand partnership. Launched in the 1990s, Brisk positione

Altria

Consumer Goods
B2cManufacturingNorth AmericaPublicFortune500

Altria Group, Inc. is a Richmond, Virginia-based tobacco and nicotine company — publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: MO) as an S&P 500 Consumer Staples component — manufacturing and s

Zeffy

Nonprofit Tech
B2bSaas

Zeffy is a Montreal-based fundraising platform for nonprofit organizations that charges zero platform fees on donations — asking donors to optionally contribute a tip to cover Zeffy's operating costs

Oda Studio

Real Estate & Property Tech
B2bProptechAi PoweredSaas

Oda Studio is a United States-based AI-powered interior design platform — backed by Y Combinator (W20) — providing homebuyers, renters, and design enthusiasts with AI tools to discover their personal

Hey Telo

Home Services
B2cMarketplaceServices

Hey Telo is a Berlin-based AI voice agent company building phone-answering and administrative automation specifically for Germany's 1 million+ independent craftsman businesses (Handwerksbetriebe) — HV

Cursor

Developer Tools & Platforms
B2bDeveloper ToolsSaasUnicorn

Cursor is an AI-powered code editor built on Visual Studio Code that integrates advanced language models to provide intelligent code completion, generation, debugging, and refactoring capabilities dir

Compare Kivo Health with Competitors

Side-by-side AI visibility scores, platform breakdown, and market position.

For Kivo Health

Claim This Profile

Are you from Kivo Health? Claim your profile to see full AI mention excerpts, get weekly visibility change alerts, and optimize how AI systems describe your brand.

Claim Kivo Health Profile →
For competitors & analysts

Track AI Visibility in Real Time

Monitor how ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude mention Kivo Health vs competitors. Get alerts when AI recommendations shift.

Start Free Tracking →