SAN FRANCISCO — Real Chemistry has acquired conversational AI platform ConversationHealth — the firm’s 10th acquisition since 2019.

The Toronto-based platform serves the healthcare and life sciences industries, using functions like natural language processing and understanding to make digital conversations with patients and consumers more accessible.

“In the new digital-first world, health care professionals, patients and consumers are now engaging with global life sciences companies in new ways with the expectation of 24/7/365 accessibility and a personalized, digital experience,” said Real Chemistry CEO Shankar Narayanan. “The acquisition of ConversationHealth brings best-in-class conversational AI technologies and medical expertise to help our clients deliver medical interaction at scale, through text, voice and digital humans, across markets and languages.”

ConversationHealth joins Real Chemistry’s data and artificial intelligence solutions group, which also houses Real Chemistry's January 2021 acquisitions Swoop and IPM.ai, sister companies that use technology to identify, target and engage patient groups. Swoop and IPM.ai are also part of the firm's health technology business, along with Symplur, the social media analytics company W2O acquired in April 2020.

Other acquisitions Real Chemistry has made since it sold a piece of the company to New Mountain Capital in 2019 include the October 2020 purchase of influencer and entertainment marketing agency Starpower as a means of accessing high-profile talent to help drive public health messages. Real Chemistry acquired Elysia Group, a health economic and outcomes research consulting firm, in September 2020 and Baltimore consultancy Discern Health two months before that. In January 2020, the independent agency group added an advertising agency to its portfolio with its acquisition of 21Grams.

As PRovoke Media reported last week, the spate of acquisitions has led to organizational restructuring that in recent weeks has cost roughly 50 employees their jobs, despite the company in 2021 marketing its 20th consecutive year of double-digit growth.

The staff reductions come roughly three months after Real Chemistry founder Jim Weiss, who spearheaded the firm’s growth into a $475 million operation, took on the new role of chairman. Narayanan succeeded him as CEO.

In March 2021, then-W20 Group was rebranded as Real Chemistry in a move meant to reflect the healthcare firm’s expanded capabilities after rapid growth and numerous acquisitions.

Real Chemistry houses W2O, the healthcare marketing and comms firm Weiss founded 20 years ago, as well as the 12 companies he acquired with the goal of making the firm leader in data and analytics.

Real Chemistry’s success earned it the number three spot on PRovoke Media’s 2020 Agency of the Decade list. The firm was cited not only for its numbers (W2O Group finished the decade as a $220 million business) but also for leading the industry in making analytics a core part of its business.