Empathetics

What Empathetics does

Empathetics, Inc. is a Boston-based, privately held company that sells an AI-augmented empathy training ecosystem to hospitals, health systems, and medical groups. The platform is built around Dr. Helen Riess's E.M.P.A.T.H.Y. framework, a seven-key neuroscience methodology originally validated in a randomized controlled trial at Massachusetts General Hospital. The core product, the Empathetics App Platform, delivers interactive modules, adaptive learning paths, and conversational simulations powered by generative AI; this is bundled with a portfolio of complementary offerings — Executive Coaching, in-person workshops, the Leadership Development Profile diagnostic, Culture Anchors Certification, a Front Line Staff Course, and a Certified Facilitator Program — that together target reductions in clinician turnover and improvements in patient experience scores. The founder remains the published author of "The Empathy Effect" and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, lending academic credibility to the methodology.

The company makes money through three streams. The dominant model is enterprise licensing: organizations with more than 1,000 employees acquire multi-year site-wide subscriptions whose pricing is custom and undisclosed. A second stream consists of individual subscriptions distributed through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store on monthly billing. A third stream is professional services revenue from in-person training experiences and executive coaching. Distribution is primarily enterprise field sales via a dedicated sales function (currently led by a Senior VP of Sales and Account Management appointed in December 2025), supplemented by thought-leadership marketing through healthcare industry publications, conference speaking, and Dr. Riess's podcast/media appearances. The customer base is concentrated in healthcare (named customers include Sutter Gould Medical Group and an unnamed Healthcare Services Group), with 1,500+ clinical sites cumulatively trained worldwide.

The business is in a transition phase: founding CEO Dr. Riess ceded the chief executive role to Pam Holt in March 2024, who was in turn succeeded by Board Chair Stan Nowak in December 2025 alongside the appointment of a senior sales leader. Funding history is light — a $1.5M round in 2015 plus a February 2026 round from LvlUp Ventures — consistent with a sub-10-person lean team that is now instituting professional management and institutional capital to scale enterprise sales.

Name

Empathetics

Legal name

Empathetics, Inc.

Website

https://empathetics.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Empathetics is an AI-augmented empathy training platform for healthcare organizations, built on a Harvard-validated E.M.P.A.T.H.Y. framework. It sells enterprise subscriptions, executive coaching, and certified facilitator programs to hospitals and health systems seeking to reduce clinician turnover.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Workforce Training Software

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (61143), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Healthcare & Clinical Simulation (Surgery, Nursing, EMT, Patient Interaction) (EDAFAJAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Simulation & Scenario-Based Learning Authoring (EDAFAHAD), Healthcare & Wellness Personalization (HDAAAGAI)

Keywords

• Empathy training
• Healthcare workforce training
• Clinician communication software
• Patient experience platform
• Healthcare retention solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Subscription-Based Training Platform Access: Subscription-based access to the Empathetics platform including digital learning materials, courses, and assessments. Pricing and billing policies disclosed at time of purchase. Available through Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
2. Enterprise Organization Licenses: Organizations with more than 1,000 employees have access through internal agreements with Empathetics. Volume-based enterprise licensing for healthcare organizations.
3. Professional Services: In-person training experiences, executive coaching, and skill-building programs delivered as part of the integrated solution.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Empathetics delivers an AI-powered empathy training platform and integrated learning system designed for healthcare organizations. The core offering is a mobile and web application that uses generative AI simulations and the proprietary E.M.P.A.T.H.Y. framework to teach empathy, communication, and connection skills. The solution combines software-based learning with executive coaching, in-person workshops, certification programs, and diagnostic assessments aimed at reducing clinician and staff turnover while improving patient experience scores.

Product overview

Empathetics offers a comprehensive, integrated empathy training ecosystem for healthcare organizations. At its core is an AI-powered App Platform that delivers fast, interactive learning experiences. This platform integrates with multiple delivery modes: Executive Coaching for leadership development, In-Person Experiences for immersive workshops, Culture Anchors Certification for internal capacity building, and the Leadership Development Profile diagnostic tool. The company also offers the Empathetics Certified Facilitator Program for external partners, the Front Line Staff Course for frontline workers, and publishes The Empathy Effect book as a consumer-facing extension of the program. The solution is designed as multiple access points working together as one connected system to reduce healthcare workforce turnover and improve patient experience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Empathetics App Platform
• The Empathy Effect Book
• Empathetics Certified Facilitator Program
• Front Line Staff Course

Quantifiable outcome

• 83% reduction in provider turnover over 4 years
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Massachusetts General HospitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerE.M.P.A.T.H.Y. service mark licensed from MGH. Dr. Helen Riess conducted her groundbreaking research at MGH and serves on the teaching faculty. MGH was the site of the randomized controlled trial validating empathy training effectiveness.
• Harvard Medical SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Helen Riess is a clinical professor at Harvard Medical School. The empathy education innovation was developed through a Medical Education Fellowship at Harvard Medical School. Research foundation for the company's methodology.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Relias: Healthcare-focused workforce training and compliance platform serving hospitals, health systems, and post-acute providers. Comparable as a broad incumbent providing online training to clinicians and healthcare staff, often bundled with mandatory compliance content, competing for the same training budgets.
• DDI (Development Dimensions International): Global leadership development firm offering assessment, training, and coaching to healthcare and other industries. Comparable as a broader incumbent in leadership development that competes for healthcare executive coaching and culture-transformation budgets alongside Empathetics.
• Crucial Learning (formerly VitalSmarts): Established corporate training company offering courses in communication, leadership, and influence (e.g., Crucial Conversations). Comparable as a broader incumbent in the communication and soft-skills training space that Empathetics competes with for healthcare leadership training budgets.
• Huron / Studer Group: Healthcare consulting arm with deep workforce, leadership, and patient-experience practice serving large health systems. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering empathy/communication-adjacent workforce solutions to the same enterprise healthcare buyer as Empathetics.
• Press Ganey: Largest patient experience measurement and improvement vendor for U.S. health systems. Comparable as an incumbent that addresses overlapping patient experience and workforce engagement outcomes that Empathetics targets, often purchased by the same healthcare executive buyers.
• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm with executive coaching, leadership development, and healthcare industry practices. Comparable as a broad incumbent providing leadership and culture transformation services to health systems that Empathetics targets at the executive tier.
• Center for Creative Leadership (CCL): Research-backed leadership development provider offering programs, coaching, and assessments used by healthcare organizations. Comparable as an incumbent leadership development vendor that competes for healthcare leadership training and culture budgets addressed by Empathetics' Leadership Development Profile and executive coaching offerings.

Emerging players

• Laerdal Medical: Healthcare simulation vendor with strong footprint in clinical simulation training for nursing, emergency medicine, and patient interaction. Comparable as an emerging player in healthcare simulation that intersects with Empathetics' AI-powered simulation approach to clinician-patient interactions.

Direct peers

• Institute for Healthcare Communication: Offers evidence-based communication skills training programs for clinicians and healthcare organizations. Comparable to Empathetics as a direct peer delivering clinician-facing communication training to improve patient interaction and reduce burnout.
• Academy of Communication in Healthcare (ACH): Nonprofit that provides communication and relationship-centered healthcare education, training, and certification for clinicians and health systems. Directly comparable to Empathetics as a peer in healthcare-specific empathy/communication skills training delivered to clinicians and health systems.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/empathetics

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

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 Empathetics