Company leader
Florian Otto
Co-founder and CEO
Cedar
Florian Otto is a German-born physician and co-founder and chief executive of Cedar, a New York City, New York company that makes billing and payment software for hospitals and medical groups. A health system uses Cedar so its patients get a bill they can read and pay from their phone.
Training as a Maxillofacial Surgeon
He was born and raised in Germany and started medical school in 2000. At the University of Freiburg he earned a medical degree, a PhD in maxillofacial surgery, and then a dental degree, since that specialty requires both. "I decided that I didn't want to do the clinical work, but rather wanted to do the business side of healthcare," he said.
From McKinsey to Brazil
He began his business career as a strategy consultant in the healthcare practice of McKinsey & Company. He then founded ClubeUrbano, a daily deals company in Brazil that Groupon bought, and became chief executive of Groupon Brazil, which grew into one of Groupon's three largest international markets. He later worked as an executive at Zocdoc.
Founding Cedar
His fiancée, now his wife, fainted and went to an emergency room in Manhattan. "I swiped the credit card for the copay and then a month later I had a terrible billing experience," he said. The bill was a stack of paper in CPT codes, and the payment portal did not work in Google Chrome. In 2016 he co-founded Cedar with Arel Lidow. Its main product, Cedar Pay, sends patients clear bills, offers payment plans, and answers questions, so more balances are paid without a call to the billing office. In 2021 Cedar raised a $200 million Series D and agreed to acquire OODA Health.
Cedar's customers include Allina Health, Novant Health, LCMC Health, and North American Partners in Anesthesia.