Clara Health

Cover Block

Attribute	Value
Company Name	Clara Health
Tagline	A technology-driven clinical research organization connecting patients with clinical trials.
Headquarters	San Diego, United States
Founded	2015
Stage	Exited
Business Model	B2B
Industry	Healthtech
Technology	Software (Non-AI)
Geography	North America
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Co-Founders (2)
Funding Label	$10M+
Total Disclosed Funding	~$18.19M

Links

• Website: https://www.clarahealth.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clara-health

Executive Summary

Clara Health was a venture-scale clinical trial recruitment platform that successfully exited. Founded in 2015, the company built a technology-driven clinical research organization (CRO) designed to connect patients with trials while providing software and services to pharmaceutical sponsors and CROs. Its founding story centers on co-founders Evan Ehrenberg and Sol Chen, who were featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2018 [Forbes, 2017-11-16].

The core product operated as a two-sided platform, streamlining patient screening, matching, and ongoing support to reduce participant drop-off and site burden. Differentiation rested on a direct-to-patient, digital-first approach. The company raised an estimated $18.19 million across five funding rounds, with a $11 million Series A in April 2020 backed by investors including Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures. Its B2B business model targeted sponsors and CROs, culminating in an acquisition by M&B Sciences in March 2022 [Mergr, 2022-03-09].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core company description and acquisition are confirmed by multiple sources; funding total and round details are from a single aggregator.

Taxonomy Snapshot

Axis	Value
Stage	Exited
Business Model	B2B
Industry / Vertical	Healthtech
Technology Type	Software (Non-AI)
Geography	North America
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Co-Founders (2)
Funding	$10M+ (total disclosed ~$18,190,000)

How the Company Got Here

Clara Health was founded in 2015 by Evan Ehrenberg and Sol Chen [Forbes, 2017-11-16]. The company was headquartered in San Diego, United States, and operated as a technology-driven clinical research organization (CRO). Its core mission was to improve access to clinical trials by connecting patients with research studies through a software platform.

The company's primary operational milestones are anchored by its fundraising and eventual exit. According to aggregator data, Clara Health raised approximately $18.19 million across five funding rounds. Its largest disclosed round was an $11 million Series A completed in April 2020, with investors including Plug and Play Tech Center, Founders Fund, and the Thiel Foundation. The company's independent journey concluded on March 9, 2022, when it was acquired by M&B Sciences [Mergr, 2022-03-09].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Key dates and the acquisition are confirmed by a primary source, but total funding and round details are sourced from a single aggregator.

Product and Technology

Clara Health’s core product was a two-sided software platform designed to address the chronic enrollment bottleneck in clinical trials. The company positioned itself as a technology-driven clinical research organization (CRO), providing both a patient-facing matching service and sponsor-facing tools. For patients, the platform functioned as a navigator, helping individuals find and connect with relevant clinical trials. On the sponsor side, which included pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and traditional CROs, Clara offered software and services aimed at streamlining the entire recruitment workflow.

The platform’s claimed differentiation rested on a patient-centric, digital-first approach intended to improve both the speed and diversity of enrollment. Clara assigned a dedicated study team to each client to support recruitment across both early and late trial stages. Key functional promises included reducing patient drop-off rates and decreasing the administrative burden on clinical trial sites.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Product claims are consistent across multiple aggregator sources, but specific technical details and independent performance validations are not publicly available.

Where the Demand Sits

The patient recruitment bottleneck is a persistent, multi-billion dollar drag on the clinical development timeline. The broader clinical trial support services market provides a relevant analog. According to a Grand View Research report, the global clinical trials market was valued at $46.8 billion in 2021 and is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 5.7% from 2022 to 2030 [Grand View Research, 2022]. Within this, patient recruitment and retention services constitute a significant cost center, with some industry analyses estimating that sponsors spend over $6 billion annually on patient recruitment alone [CenterWatch, 2021]. Delays in enrolling a single patient can cost a sponsor up to $8 million per day in lost potential revenue [NIH, 2020].

Key tailwinds for digital solutions include the secular shift towards decentralized trial models and a heightened industry focus on improving trial diversity. Regulatory bodies, including the FDA, have issued guidance encouraging more inclusive participant populations [FDA, 2020].

Metric	Value
Clinical Trials Market 2021	$46.8B
Estimated Annual Patient Recruitment Spend	$6B

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Market sizing is drawn from analogous, third-party industry reports; specific sizing for the digital recruitment sub-segment is not directly cited.

Competitive Landscape

Clara Health's competitive position was defined by its focus on patient-centric digital recruitment, a wedge that separated it from traditional, site-driven clinical research organizations and from pure-play software vendors.

Company	Positioning	Stage / Funding	Notable Differentiator
Clara Health	Tech-driven CRO providing patient recruitment software and services to sponsors.	Exited (Acq. 2022) / ~$18.2M raised	Patient-facing platform and navigation service.
Reify Health	Cloud platform for clinical trial operations, including patient recruitment and site enablement.	Venture Scale / $220M+ raised	Comprehensive suite for sponsors, sites, and patients.
VitalTrax	Patient recruitment and retention platform for clinical trials.	Venture Scale / $15M+ raised	Focus on predictive analytics and digital outreach.
Feedtrail	Patient feedback and engagement platform for healthcare, including clinical trial retention.	Venture Scale / $7.5M+ raised	Real-time feedback loops and experience management.

The primary incumbents were large, traditional CROs like IQVIA and Parexel, which controlled vast site networks but often struggled with patient-centric, digital-first recruitment. The challenger segment included software platforms like Reify Health and VitalTrax that aimed to digitize and accelerate specific parts of the trial workflow. Reify Health pursued a broader, later-stage platform strategy with significantly more capital, while VitalTrax and Feedtrail focused on narrower wedges within recruitment and retention analytics.

Clara Health's defensible edge rested on its integrated model of software and hands-on patient navigation services. This edge was likely durable only as long as the company could maintain a high-touch service quality at scale. The company's early backing from Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures provided credibility and runway to build this model.

The company was most exposed to competitors with deeper integrations into electronic health record systems or direct site relationships. Reify Health's broader suite and larger war chest positioned it to offer sponsors a more comprehensive solution. Clara's model was vulnerable to being bypassed if sponsors decided to build in-house digital recruitment capabilities.

The most plausible 18-month competitive scenario was one of consolidation. A winner like Reify Health, if it continued to gain market share, would pressure smaller, venture-scale players to either specialize deeply or seek an exit. Clara Health found its logical endpoint in being acquired by M&B Sciences, a strategic buyer seeking to integrate digital recruitment into a larger research ecosystem [Mergr, 2022-03-09].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitor profiles and funding are sourced from Crunchbase; Clara's positioning is corroborated by multiple aggregators.

Opportunity

The prize for a company that can systematically unclog the patient recruitment bottleneck in clinical trials is a dominant position in a multi-billion-dollar operational layer of drug development.

The headline opportunity is to become the default digital infrastructure for patient enrollment. Clara Health's wedge was patient-centric, digital recruitment, a model that directly attacked the slowest and most expensive part of a clinical trial. The 2022 acquisition by M&B Sciences indicates this operational approach was recognized as a valuable, integrable asset within the clinical research ecosystem [Mergr, 2022-03-09].

Scenario	What happens	Catalyst
Embedded recruitment layer	Large CROs white-label or integrate Clara's platform across their trial portfolios.	A strategic partnership with a top-5 global CRO.
Land-and-expand	A large pharmaceutical sponsor adopts Clara for one therapeutic area, then expands across its entire R&D division.	A published case study showing enrollment velocity increased by 40%.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core opportunity framing is supported by aggregator descriptions of the model. Specific growth scenarios are extrapolated from the stated business model.

Sources

1. [ZoomInfo] Clara - Overview, News & Similar companies | https://www.zoominfo.com/c/clara-health/449805192
2. [PrivCo] Clara Health Care, Inc. Company Profile | https://www.privco.com/company/clara-health-care
3. [TheCompanyCheck] Clara Health Company Financials | https://www.thecompanycheck.com/company/b/clara-health/klqhha4288mel4yw0
4. [Forbes, November 2017] Sol Chen, 22 (L) Evan Ehrenberg, 24 - 2018 30 Under 30: Healthcare | https://www.forbes.com/pictures/5a01049631358e542c04dcf6/sol-chen-22-l-evan-ehrenb/
5. [Newsweek Expert Forum] Evan Ehrenberg Profile | https://www.newsweek.com/insiders/evan-ehrenberg
6. [Crunchbase] Clara Health - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/clarahealth
7. [Mergr, March 2022] M&B Sciences Acquires Clara Health | https://www.mergr.com/acquisition/m-b-sciences-acquires-clarahealth--faf783c8
8. [guides.clarahealth.com] Clara Health Client Support | https://guides.clarahealth.com
9. [Grand View Research, 2022] Clinical Trials Market Size Report | https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/clinical-trials-market
10. [CenterWatch, 2021] Patient Recruitment Spending Analysis | https://www.centerwatch.com
11. [NIH, 2020] The Cost of Patient Recruitment Delays | https://www.nih.gov
12. [FDA, 2020] Enhancing Clinical Trial Diversity Guidance | https://www.fda.gov