Care delivery & operations · Autism services
Finni Health
A platform that helps board certified behavior analysts open and run their own applied behavior analysis practices, pitched against the private equity chains that bought up the field. Seed funded in 2023, and still reporting its scale in its own numbers.
The first provider
The company keeps returning to one name. In its Y Combinator launch post the founders wrote that “within a couple weeks, we partnered with our first provider, Monique.” Three years later the recruiting page carries her testimonial from Las Cruces, New Mexico: “When I first started, it was just me, and a lot of unknowns.”
The federal provider registry shows why Las Cruces matters. Finni Health is a trade name. The enrolled entity is Journey Health Technologies U.S. Inc., NPI 1528704236, enumerated May 6, 2022, with a Las Cruces mailing address and a primary taxonomy of Behavior Analyst. The authorized official is Yilun Chen, chief technology officer. The record was certified September 15, 2026 and lists six practice locations, in New Mexico, Colorado, Ohio, Tennessee and Idaho.
The company selling independence to clinicians is itself an enrolled billing provider.
The market that coverage built
Applied behavior analysis is the most widely insured autism intervention in the United States, and it got there through two decades of state by state advocacy. CMS clarified in 2014 that Medicaid owed medically necessary autism treatment under the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment benefit. By 2022 every state Medicaid program had extended coverage to applied behavior analysis, and every state has a commercial mandate.
CMS has been careful about what that does not mean. Asked whether it had mandated applied behavior analysis for children under 21, the agency answered: “CMS is not endorsing or requiring any particular treatment modality for ASD.”
Money followed anyway. Researchers from Brown, RAND and Harvard Pilgrim counted 147 private equity acquisitions covering 574 autism service sites across 42 states between 2015 and 2024, in JAMA Pediatrics on January 5, 2026. A 74 investigation in September 2026 reported Medicaid billing for the six most common autism codes rising about 381 percent, to nearly $2 billion a year.
Finni built its pitch on that. Its funding announcement said the industry “has been the target of Private Equity, with over 200 M&A deals in the past decade.” Its careers page: “Most BCBAs face a brutal choice: join a roll-up and lose autonomy, or go independent and drown in operations.”
A marketer and an engineer
Neither founder is a clinician. Bukhtar Khan, who goes by Bucky, is chief executive; before Finni he was a performance marketing operator, credited on an investor profile with more than $100 million in campaign spending. Yilun Chen, chief technology officer, runs engineering and is the authorized official on the provider record.
The origin story is personal on one side. The launch post says “Bucky grew up providing in-home daycare to children with different abilities for over a decade with his mom.” Chen suggested a platform to automate provider operations and billing. Their first traction claim: “We launched 7 months ago and already have $30K in monthly revenue growing 50% per month.”
What the company says it is now
In June 2023 Finni announced $3.2 million led by General Catalyst, with Y Combinator, Wayfinder Ventures, Andrew Adams of Headway and Divya Bhatt of Virta. Its counsel lists the same round.
After that the numbers stop being checkable. The recruiting page says Finni is “Trusted by 45 active ABA practices” and available in “35+ states.” The careers page says “21+ U.S. states served.” The public provider directory, read in September 2026, lists 27 named clinical leads holding BCBA or licensed behavior analyst credentials, in 23 states. Three company sources, three answers.
Credentialing is where precision matters most, and the company is correct in its own glossary: “BACB certification does not replace state licensure or entity authorization.” The board reported 85,587 BCBAs, 5,246 BCaBAs and 260,174 registered behavior technicians as of July 1, 2026, and separately lists 40 states plus the District of Columbia that license behavior analysts. New Mexico, where the provider record sits, is not among them.
What is proven, and what is still claimed
| Evidence | What the record shows | Source type |
|---|---|---|
| Provider enrollment | NPI 1528704236, Journey Health Technologies U.S. Inc., doing business as Finni Health. Enumerated May 6, 2022, certified Sep 15, 2026. Taxonomy Behavior Analyst. Six locations, five states. | Public record |
| Seed round | $3.2 million announced Jun 12, 2023, led by General Catalyst. Reported by HIT Consultant and Pulse 2.0, confirmed by the company’s law firm. | Independent |
| Regulation D filings | No Form D for Finni Health or Journey Health Technologies in the SEC records pulled. | Not found |
| States served | Recruiting page: “35+ states.” Careers page: “21+ U.S. states served.” Directory: 23. Record: five. | Company sources disagree |
| Practice count | “Trusted by 45 active ABA practices.” The public directory lists 27 named credentialed leads. | Claim exceeds directory |
| Family outcomes | “1,000+ families helped” and “90% of families report meaningful progress in their first 6 months.” No methodology or sample published. | Company-stated |
| Revenue | $30,000 monthly stated by founders in early 2023. GetLatka publishes an estimated $10.4 million for 2024. No audited figure is public. | Company and estimate |
| Payer environment | HHS Office of Inspector General found at least $56 million in improper Indiana Medicaid ABA payments (Dec 2024) and $18.5 million in Wisconsin (Jul 2025). | Public record |
Read plainly: the corporate and regulatory facts check out; the scale claims do not yet. Finni is an enrolled provider with a named seed round and a public roster of credentialed clinicians. Its numbers for states, practices and outcomes live only on its own website, where three pages disagree.
The evidence under the category
Finni sells one intervention, and it is contested. Both positions have published support.
Supporting it: a 2022 scoping review in Perspectives on Behavior Science reported improvements across seven of eight outcome categories, while noting no included study measured quality of life. A 2025 meta-analysis of 25 studies in the Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders found a large effect for receptive language and moderate effects for adaptive and cognitive skills.
Against it: a 2020 meta-analysis of 14 randomized trials in Psychiatry Investigation found no significant effect on general autism symptoms, receptive language, adaptive behavior or IQ. A 2024 JAMA Pediatrics meta-analysis of 144 studies and 9,038 children found no positive association between amount of intervention and effect size, a challenge to the 20 to 40 hour weekly standard. A 2026 study in Autism matching 17,120 youth who received the therapy against 17,120 who did not reported 30 percent higher odds of a mental health hospitalization.
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network gave CMS the policy version in September 2026: “While ABA is the dominant intervention model available to autistic children due to limited availability of alternate models, it does not follow that unlimited ABA hours ought to be covered without restriction or review.” The Council of Autism Service Providers answers that bad actors are not the field.
What to watch
- Whether the company reconciles its state and practice counts into one audited number.
- A Form D or a named Series A. The careers page and a third party database both assert one; no amount, date or lead has been announced.
- State utilization limits. Indiana capped billable hours after a federal audit.
- Whether the management services structure holds under state corporate practice rules.
- Published outcome data behind the website percentages.
In their words
“Bucky grew up providing in-home daycare to children with different abilities for over a decade with his mom.”
Finni Health founders, YC launch post, 2023 · Company
“We launched 7 months ago and already have $30K in monthly revenue growing 50% per month.”
Finni Health founders, YC launch post, 2023 · Company
“When I first started, it was just me, and a lot of unknowns.”
Monique, Finni practice owner, New Mexico · Company
“Most BCBAs face a brutal choice: join a roll-up and lose autonomy, or go independent and drown in operations.”
Finni Health careers page · Company
“BACB certification does not replace state licensure or entity authorization.”
Finni Health glossary, Aug 2026 · Company
“It’s not that private equity is corrupting a previously fine field. Private equity entered the field because of the flaws that were already there.”
Ari Ne’eman, Harvard Chan School, to The 74, 2026 · Independent
“Bad actors exist in every healthcare profession, including ABA, but that doesn’t mean they are prevalent.”
Lorri Unumb, CEO, Council of Autism Service Providers, 2026 · Independent
“ABA was created with a sort of model that there is a perfect way to be, and we know what that is and we’re going to teach you how to be that perfect way.”
Catherine Lord, PhD, UCLA, Child Mind Institute · Independent
Related companies
Sources
- Public recordNPPES NPI record 1528704236
- Public recordFAQ on CMS and ABA under EPSDT
- Public recordBACB certificant data
- Public recordLicensure of behavior analysis in the US
- IndependentPrivate equity acquired nearly 600 autism therapy sites
- IndependentPrivate Equity Is Cashing in on Autism Therapy
- IndependentABA in children and youth with ASD: a scoping review
- IndependentIntervention amount and outcomes for young autistic children
- IndependentMental health outcomes associated with ABA
- IndependentASAN letter to CMS regarding ABA
- IndependentFinni Health raises $3.2M
- CompanyFinni Health Raises $3.2M
- CompanyLaunch YC: Finni Health
- CompanyRecruiting, careers and provider directory pages
- IndependentABA under payment scrutiny, on HHS OIG audits
- IndependentEfficacy of ABA interventions: a meta-analysis
- IndependentMeta-analysis of ABA-based interventions
- IndependentThe Controversy Around ABA
- IndependentFinni Health seed financing
- CompanyCPOM glossary entry
Profile researched and written by Healthcare Discovery. Last updated September 29, 2026.
