The AI Doctor’s Office That Couldn’t: Forward’s $650M Healthcare Moonshot Crashes to Earth
In a dramatic turn of events that has sent shockwaves through the healthcare technology sector, Forward, the ambitious startup that promised to revolutionize primary care with artificial intelligence, has shuttered its operations after burning through more than $650 million in venture funding.
Adrian Aoun, a former Google executive, founded the company and made headlines with its futuristic vision of healthcare delivery. The “CarePod”—a metallic, spaceship-like kiosk—was the company’s crown jewel, promising to deliver doctor visits without the need for actual doctors.
But this bold experiment in autonomous healthcare has come to an abrupt end, leaving patients scrambling and nearly 200 employees without jobs.
The Rise: Silicon Valley Meets Healthcare
Forward emerged in 2017 with a compelling pitch that aimed to transform the doctor’s office into a tech-savvy wellness center. The startup’s clinics, designed to feel like Apple Stores, featured eye-catching body scanners and wall-mounted iPads. For $150 monthly, patients could access complete primary care without insurance.
Key innovations included:
- Full-body scanners using thermal mapping
- AI-powered symptom detection
- DNA sequencing capabilities
- Tech-enabled vital sign monitoring
The Pivot: Betting Everything on CarePods
In mid-2023, Forward made a dramatic shift. The company unveiled its CarePods—autonomous medical kiosks that would let patients:
- Take their own blood samples
- Get DNA analysis
- Test for various diseases
- Receive medical care without human interaction.
Aoun boldly declared, “If Elon has the self-driving car, well, this is the autonomous doctor’s office.”
The Fall: When Technology Meets Reality
The problems began mounting almost immediately:
- Blood draws routinely failed.
- Patients got trapped inside CarePods.
- Lab test offerings were withdrawn.
- Deployment delays hit major markets.
Despite raising $100 million in Series E funding and promising 3,200 CarePods within a year, Forward managed to launch only five. By late 2023, just two locations remained active.
The Final Days
On Tuesday night, Forward sent a late-night email to patients announcing the immediate closure of all locations. The company shut down its mobile app and canceled scheduled visits. Patients have until December 13 to get support from the clinical team via email.
Former employees paint a picture of a company that prioritized flashy technology over practical healthcare delivery. While the body scanners impressed visitors, they often recorded incorrect data, forcing clinicians to retake vital signs manually.
Lessons Learned
Forward’s collapse highlights several crucial lessons for healthcare innovators:
- Technology should enhance, not replace, human medical care.
- Healthcare requires a balance between innovation and proven practices.
- Rapid scaling in healthcare demands careful consideration of regulatory and logistical challenges.
- Patient trust and safety must come before technological ambition.
The startup’s fall serves as a sobering reminder that even with hundreds of millions in funding and Silicon Valley’s brightest minds, transforming healthcare requires more than just technological innovation—it demands a deep understanding of medical practice, patient needs, and the complex healthcare ecosystem.
The blue painter’s tape, which marks the location of Forward’s first CarePod in the Roseville Galleria mall, serves as a humble reminder that the future of healthcare may not always be as straightforward as silicon dreams may suggest.