Sunlight AI Raises $17.4 Million to Help Independent Doctors Stay Independent

MIAMI — Most small-business owners complain about paperwork. For independent doctors, paperwork can decide whether they stay in business at all. A startup with offices in Miami and New York says it can take that load off their desks, and it just raised $17.4 million to prove it.

Sunlight AI came out of stealth on Oct. 19 with a seed round, its first acquisition and a pitch aimed squarely at physicians who own their own practices, according to the company’s announcement on PR Newswire.

The Round

The seed round was led by Lan Xuexhao, founder of Basis Set Ventures, with participation from Sofeon Ventures, Social Leverage, Actions Capital, Overlook Ventures and Early Light Ventures, the company said. About a dozen additional healthcare investors, family offices and technology founders also invested, including Frank Williams, founder of Evolent Health.

Alongside the funding, Sunlight announced it has acquired Bradford Medical Associates, a company serving independent physicians. Terms were not disclosed. Refresh Miami reported that Bradford is the first in a planned series of acquisitions of businesses that serve independent doctors.

The Problem It’s Going After

Sunlight’s announcement lays out the squeeze on independent practices with industry figures. It says practice operating expenses rose roughly 11% in 2025 and Medicare physician payment has fallen more than 30% since 2001, citing the Medical Group Management Association and the American Medical Association. It also says hospitals and corporations acquired more than 85,000 practices between 2018 and 2026, and that only 18% of physicians remain independent, citing a report from the Physicians Advocacy Institute and Avalere.

According to the company, independent practices typically split their administrative work across five or six vendors and an overextended office manager. Many doctors have dealt with that by selling to a health system or a corporate owner. Sunlight wants to be a third option.

How It Works

Sunlight describes itself as an operating partner for independent practices, combining practice-management infrastructure, human staff and AI rather than offering another standalone software tool. Its services fall into three areas, according to NextMD’s summary of the company’s materials: billing and collections, staffing and daily administration, and tax and financial support. Its website lists insurance denials, payroll, benefits, tax preparation and credentialing among the tasks it handles, and practices can pick individual services.

The company says its model lets doctors keep ownership of their practices and control of clinical decisions. It also says its first group of clients using its insurance arbitration service in 2026 recovered multiples of what insurers initially paid. That is a company claim; the announcement does not include enough data to verify it independently.

Founder and CEO Sina Chehrazi grew up close to the problem. His father, Barry Chehrazi, has practiced for decades as an independent neurosurgeon, and Chehrazi saw how much work went into keeping a practice running, especially getting paid for care already delivered, Refresh Miami reported. Chehrazi also confirmed on LinkedIn that Sunlight’s operating system has launched in all 50 states, according to the outlet.

The Miami Angle

Sunlight lists New York and Miami as its two bases. Its announcement did not include a Miami hiring target, name local physician clients or set a timeline for a South Florida rollout, 22Miami noted. It also clarified that the Bradford deal involves a service provider, not a Miami clinic or local patient care.

Still, the company joins a run of Miami-linked startups this fall building AI-powered back offices for owner-operated businesses, from bookkeeping to sales calls. Sunlight applies that idea to one of the most regulated small businesses there is.

Why It Matters for Business Owners

A medical practice is a small business with unusually complicated cash flow. Revenue depends on insurers paying claims correctly, and every denied or underpaid claim is money the practice already earned. Combining acquired service firms with new software lets Sunlight start with existing clients and staff on day one, an approach investors will judge by whether the $17.4 million covers more deals and whether its collection claims hold up.

For South Florida’s many independent physicians, the takeaway is that the menu of options is widening beyond “sell or stay stuck.” Whether Sunlight becomes a big local employer is still an open question, and Entrepreneurs Of Miami will keep watching for local hiring and client news.