Loading organizations...
Smylen develops AirPay, a platform automating dental benefits verification for practices. It delivers instant, real-time benefits data across multiple carriers, centralizing information and boosting verification efficiency. AirPay integrates with existing dental practice management software, reducing administrative burdens and improving patient engagement through clearer treatment plan explanations.
The company was founded by Richard Giddon and Derek Giddon, a father-and-son team of experienced dentists. Their combined four decades in the field highlighted operational inefficiencies and patient experience challenges in the dental industry. This firsthand insight drove their mission to develop solutions addressing fundamental gaps in dental care delivery.
Smylen serves dental practices optimizing insurance verification and elevating patient satisfaction. The platform saves practices substantial administrative time, enabling staff to prioritize direct patient care. Smylen envisions fostering operational efficiency and transparency in dental practices, leading to stronger patient relationships and more accessible treatments.
Smylen has raised $2.0M across 1 funding round.
Smylen has raised $2.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Smylen is a dental technology company founded in 2017 and headquartered in New York City, specializing in automated dental insurance verification and payment processing to streamline operations for dental practices.[1][2][6] Its core product, AirPay, automates insurance eligibility checks, benefits breakdowns, out-of-pocket calculations, and digital payments, serving dental providers by reducing administrative burdens and improving patient experiences.[2][3][6] Smylen has raised $2.46M in seed VC funding, primarily from Revere Partners, and remains in an active stage with a focus on healthcare tech, particularly HR tech for workforce management in dental settings.[1]
The platform addresses key pain points like manual verification processes, saving practices up to 30 hours per week, while also enabling patient acquisition and personalized treatment plans.[1][2][6] This positions Smylen as a growth tool for dental offices, with low employee count (<25) and revenue under $5M, emphasizing efficiency in a fragmented industry.[3]
Smylen was founded in 2017 by former dentists who drew directly from firsthand challenges in dental practice management, such as inefficient insurance verification and patient payments.[2] Based initially in New York (with addresses listed at 34 Desbrosses Street and later 39 Shore Dr, Great Neck), the company emerged to digitize outdated manual processes in oral health.[1][3]
A pivotal moment came in 2021 with the launch of AirPay, which quickly gained traction amid pandemic-driven needs for contactless, efficient check-in/out workflows.[2] This innovation earned Smylen the Revere Partners "Innovation Award" at the Yankee Dental Congress, recognizing its potential to transform oral care outcomes.[2] Early funding from Revere Partners, a venture fund dedicated to oral health, fueled its seed-stage growth to $2.46M total raised.[1]
Smylen rides the wave of digital transformation in healthcare, specifically dental tech, where administrative inefficiencies like insurance verification plague practices amid rising patient volumes and labor shortages.[2][6] Timing aligns with post-pandemic shifts to contactless payments and telehealth, amplified by HR tech trends in benefits and payroll automation—placing Smylen in analyst collections like CB Insights' HR Tech (4,043 companies).[1]
Market forces favoring it include a fragmented $150B+ U.S. dental industry ripe for SaaS disruption, venture interest from oral health specialists like Revere Partners, and scalability via cloud infrastructure.[1][2][5] Smylen influences the ecosystem by setting standards for verification speed and patient-centric tools, potentially accelerating adoption of AI-driven admin in smaller practices and inspiring similar fintech-health hybrids.[2]
Smylen is poised for expansion by deepening AirPay integrations, targeting more clearinghouses, and leveraging its award-winning momentum to capture market share in underserved dental practices.[2][6] Trends like AI-enhanced claims processing, value-based care, and embedded finance will shape its path, especially as dental groups consolidate and demand efficiency tools.[1]
Its influence may evolve from niche innovator to category leader if it scales beyond seed funding, potentially influencing how oral health tech standardizes patient payments nationwide—echoing its founding mission to humanize and digitize dentistry for happier patients and thriving practices.[2]
Smylen has raised $2.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Smylen has raised $2.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $2.0M Series A in December 2018.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 1, 2018 | $2.0M Series A |