Imagine a gifted student whose goal in life is to help people. Her path takes her to med school, and eventually to residency. She begins to see the patients she had always dreamed of helping. But instead of devoting her energy to their care—and to her life outside work—she finds herself buried in documentation and administrative tasks, spending hours charting over late nights and weekends. 

This was the experience of Dr. Gabi Meckler, a family physician in Santa Rosa, California. She wasn’t alone. Studies show that for every one hour of patient interaction, clinicians devote two hours to documentation. Almost 50% of doctors reported symptoms of burnout in a recent AMA survey, and nearly one-third are considering leaving the field altogether.

Dr. Meckler knew there had to be a better way—and so did her husband, Erez Druk, then an engineer at Facebook. Erez wanted to free his wife and other clinicians to spend less time on paperwork, so he and co-founder Andrey Bannikov designed a solution: Freed, an AI-powered clinician assistant. That solution quickly took off, growing in a product-led motion among small- and medium-sized independent practices around the country. 

Freed completely transforms the daily lives of clinicians. During a patient visit, clinicians use Freed to transcribe audio and generate draft medical notes. They can quickly review and edit the output, and the platform learns as they go, adapting style and terminology for each user—including preferences for phrasing, template layouts and specific medical vocabulary. After the patient leaves, Freed charts the visit and integrates the record into the EHR system. Doctors get less after-hours paperwork, more time and attention for their patients—and more space in their lives. The reviews are glowing: “Thanks to Freed,” one doctor said, “I close my computer and I’m done for the day. My kids get all of me.” Another: “I can focus on what really matters—my patients.” In many ways, Freed is a love letter from Erez to his wife Gabi, giving her—and doctors like her—precious time back.

When we first met Erez and Andrey, we were impressed by their customer obsession and velocity. Erez does everything with 200% intensity. Learning the saxophone at the age of 10 led to a scholarship from the Berklee School of Music; at the Israel Institute of Technology’s prestigious Technion University, he was at the top of his class. After graduation, he joined the team at Facebook—where he and Andrey met on his first day on the job. Their shared passion for innovation led to a years-long partnership, and now to a shared mission to help clinicians and their patients.

Today Freed serves more than 17,000 providers in small- and medium-sized practices across nearly 100 specialties, from mental health to pediatrics, giving doctors peace of mind and hours of time for what matters most. We at Sequoia are proud to support Erez, Andrey and their growing team by leading their Series A.