Special, a venture founded by former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffers Nate Cavanaugh and Justin Fox, said on June 2 that it raised an undisclosed funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz to buy companies and reduce costs with AI.

The company said investors include Valor Equity Partners founder Antonio Gracias, former xAI CFO Anthony Armstrong, Steve Davis, Coinbase Global chief executive Brian Armstrong, and Palantir Technologies CTO Shyam Sankar.

It also said it agreed to acquire a Texas healthcare company that will sit within Figure Health, a business line focused on aging populations.

Before joining the government, Cavanaugh co-founded Brainbase, a software company based in the US. He and Fox later oversaw work at the National Endowment for the Humanities under DOGE.

Special’s strategy reflects a broader roll-up trend, in which investors acquire service businesses and use AI to automate workflows.

In healthcare, however, cost-cutting efforts face risks, including limited real-world validation, bias, privacy issues, and unclear accountability.

🔗 Source: A16z