What Understand.com does

Understand.com, LLC is a privately held, Plano, Texas-based medical animation and patient education company founded around 2001. It produces medically accurate 3D animations and illustrations for healthcare organizations, structured around two product lines: (i) six subscription-based specialty animation libraries (Plastic Surgery, Orthopaedics, Spine, Dermatology, Breast Cancer, and Hair) totaling more than 200 ready-made animations, delivered through an embeddable HTML5 video player hosted on AWS and integrated via iframe into customer websites; and (ii) custom medical animation services for medical device companies, pharmaceutical companies, and hospitals, typically priced around $12,000 for 90–120 seconds of content and produced through a five-stage Discovery–Production workflow.

The underlying platform is an embeddable video player with WCAG 2.2 Level AA accessibility features (keyboard navigation, screen reader support, captions, transcripts, chapter navigation), a customer portal for subscription and embed-code management, and a Google Analytics 4 integration configured for HIPAA-conscious data collection that does not track patient PHI. Subscriptions are sold on annual terms ranging from $150–$250 per individual animation to $995–$2,350 per complete specialty library; custom animation is sold as project-based engagements. Distribution is global, with content reaching 100+ countries and 30+ million cumulative patient views, supported by relationships with Hospital for Special Surgery, Stanford University, Stryker, and a 15+ year exclusive endorsement from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

The go-to-market combines enterprise field sales for custom and library subscriptions with a self-service customer portal for smaller practice customers, and a customer success team that onboards buyers within one business day. Customer Success representatives handle custom animation quotes and coordinate web developer integration at no additional charge. The company is bootstrapped with no disclosed funding rounds, no parent company, and no public listing, operating as a Nevada LLC from its Plano headquarters and a Reno, Nevada office.

Name

Understand.com

Legal name

Understand.com, LLC

Website

https://understand.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Understand.com is a privately held medical animation company that produces subscription-based patient education animation libraries for six medical specialties and custom animation services for medical device companies and hospitals, delivering content via embeddable HTML5 video players on healthcare websites worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Medical Animation Software

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Industries (5121), Software Publishers (5132), Graphic Design Services (541430)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Patient Education, Content & Personalized Journey Orchestration (HLACAEAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Healthcare & Clinical Simulation (Surgery, Nursing, EMT, Patient Interaction) (EDAFAJAC), 3D Product/Explainer Animation (MPAHACAD), Healthcare & Clinical Professional Development (CME/CE) (EDAGANAJ)

Keywords

• Medical animation services
• Patient education videos
• Medical illustration services
• Healthcare video content
• Surgical procedure animations

Headquarters

HQ city

Reno

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Subscription-Based Animation Libraries: Annual subscription model for ready-made patient education animation libraries. Subscriptions include hosted website animations, eligible downloadable social media videos, software updates, new animation releases, customer support, and reporting tools. Libraries range from individual animations ($150-$250/year) to complete specialty libraries ($995-$2,350/year).
2. Custom Medical Animation Services: Project-based custom animation creation for medical devices, surgical procedures, pharmaceutical mechanisms of action, and other specific client needs. Most projects start around $12,000 for 90-120 seconds of animation. Includes full production from discovery through delivery.
3. Individual Animation Purchases: Customers can purchase individual animations rather than complete libraries, ranging from $150 to $250 annually. This allows practices to start with high-volume procedures and upgrade to complete libraries as their practice grows.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Understand.com produces and licenses medically accurate 3D patient education animations for healthcare providers. Its core offering comprises six annual subscription-based specialty animation libraries (Plastic Surgery, Orthopaedics, Spine, Dermatology, Breast Cancer, Hair) delivered through an embeddable HTML5 video player, complemented by project-based custom medical animation services for medical devices, surgical procedures, and pharmaceutical mechanisms of action.

Product overview

Understand.com is a medical animation and patient education company offering a portfolio of subscription-based patient education animation libraries alongside custom medical animation services. The core product is an embeddable HTML5 video player that delivers medical animations via iframe integration on healthcare websites. The six specialty animation libraries—Plastic Surgery (48 animations), Orthopaedics (53 animations), Spine (32 animations), Dermatology, Breast Cancer (8 animations), and Hair—provide ready-made patient education content for specific medical specialties. These libraries can be embedded on practice websites, used during consultations, and distributed through social media. Complementing the library subscriptions is a Custom Medical Animation service that creates bespoke animations for medical devices, surgical procedures, mechanisms of action, and other specialized healthcare communication needs. Pricing ranges from $150-$250 per individual animation annually to $995-$2,350 per complete specialty library annually, with hosting, updates, and new releases included.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Plastic Surgery Animation Library Subscription-based collection of 48 medically accurate patient education animations covering breast procedures, body contouring, facial procedures, skin treatments, injectables, and nonsurgical aesthetic treatments including breast augmentation, tummy tuck, facelift, rhinoplasty, and Botox. Targeted at plastic surgeons, cosmetic surgery practices, medical spas, and hospitals with plastic surgery departments.
• Orthopaedics Animation Library Subscription-based collection of 53 medically accurate animations for orthopedic and sports medicine procedures covering knee, shoulder, hip, cartilage, foot and ankle, hand and wrist, and elbow topics, including total knee replacement, ACL reconstruction, and rotator cuff repair. Targeted at orthopedic surgeons, sports medicine physicians, joint replacement specialists, and ambulatory surgery centers.
• Spine Animation Library Subscription-based collection of 32 medically accurate animations covering common spine conditions and procedures, including herniated disc, spinal stenosis, sciatica, scoliosis, ACDF, laminectomy, TLIF, PLIF, ALIF, LLIF, and spinal fusion. Targeted at spine surgeons, orthopedic spine practices, neurosurgery practices, and spine centers.
• Dermatology Animation Library Subscription-based collection of medically accurate animations for medical dermatology, cosmetic dermatology, skin cancer education, skin treatments, and general skin health topics including acne, eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, and Mohs surgery. Targeted at dermatologists, dermatology practices, hospitals, and healthcare organizations.
• Breast Cancer Animation Library Subscription-based collection of 8 medically accurate animations covering breast cancer basics, treatment teams, breast self-exam, mammography, breast reconstruction, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgical options. Targeted at cancer centers, oncology practices, breast reconstruction practices, radiation oncology, hospitals, and health systems.
• Hair Animation Library Subscription-based collection of medically accurate patient education animations covering hair restoration procedures and hair-related topics. Targeted at hair restoration practices and related providers.
• Custom Medical Animation Services Bespoke 3D medical animation and illustration services producing custom content for medical devices, surgical procedures, pharmaceutical mechanisms of action, cellular and molecular topics, product launches, physician education, sales training, patient education, and healthcare marketing. Each project follows a five-stage process—Discovery, Preproduction (script and storyboard), Production (3D modeling and animation), Postproduction (narration and effects), and Final Review—and typically starts around $12,000 for 90–120 seconds of animation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Patients who viewed Understand animations demonstrated improved understanding and reduced preoperative anxiety
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerExclusive patient education provider endorsed by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons for over 15 years. This endorsement recognizes Understand.com's commitment to creating medically accurate, physician-reviewed patient education content that supports informed conversations between plastic surgeons and their patients.
• Medical Advisory BoardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBoard-certified physicians representing various medical specialties who provide clinical insight and review to confirm medical accuracy of Understand.com's animation content. The Medical Advisory Board supports both library animations and custom animation projects.
• Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS)flagshipOthersTrusted orthopedic patient education provider for Hospital for Special Surgery, one of the world's leading orthopedic institutions. HSS references Understand.com as their orthopedic patient education provider.
• Stanford UniversitycoreOthersTrusted by Stanford University for orthopedic patient education content. Stanford represents a leading academic medical center partnership.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• BioDigital: BioDigital offers an interactive 3D human anatomy and medical visualization platform used for patient education and medical training. It directly competes with Understand.com's specialty animation libraries on patient-facing medical visualization for practices, hospitals, and pharma.
• Nucleus Medical Media: Nucleus Medical Media produces medically accurate illustrations and animations used in patient education, medical reference, and healthcare marketing. It overlaps directly with Understand.com's library and custom medical animation offerings across multiple specialties.
• XVIVO Scientific Animation: XVIVO specializes in 3D medical and scientific animations for pharma, biotech, and medical device companies. It is a direct peer to Understand.com's Custom Medical Animation Services, particularly for mechanism-of-action and surgical-procedure content.
• Random42 Scientific Communication: Random42 produces award-winning medical and scientific animations for pharma, biotech, and medical device clients. It directly competes with Understand.com for custom animation budgets in mechanism-of-action, product launch, and medical education use cases.
• Hybrid Medical Animation: Hybrid Medical Animation provides 3D medical animations and interactive content for healthcare marketing, patient education, and medical training. It is a direct peer to Understand.com's custom and library content production business.
• Ghost Productions: Ghost Productions produces medical animations and interactive media for medical device companies, surgeons, and healthcare marketing. It directly competes with Understand.com for custom animation projects from medtech clients such as Stryker.

Broad incumbents

• PatientPoint: PatientPoint is a large-scale patient engagement platform delivering health content in physician offices, hospitals, and digital channels. It is a broader incumbent addressing patient education across many specialties, where Understand.com competes only in a few procedural-heavy verticals.
• Healthwise: Healthwise is a major patient education content vendor providing video, print, and digital materials to hospitals and health systems. It competes with Understand.com in patient education but covers a much broader clinical scope rather than specializing in procedural animation.
• Krames (WebMD Health Services): Krames, part of WebMD Health Services, is a large patient education and care engagement content provider used by health systems and payers. It is a broad incumbent in the same patient-education space where Understand.com's embeddable libraries compete for hospital contracts.
• Wolters Kluwer: Wolters Kluwer is a large medical publisher with patient education, clinical decision support, and reference content offerings. It competes with Understand.com as an established, broad incumbent where Understand.com is a focused, niche specialist in procedural animation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/understandmed
• Facebookfacebook.com/understand
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/understand.com
• Xx.com/understandmed

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Understand.com