SAN FRANCISCO — W2O Group is bolstering its newly launched health technology practice with the purchase of sister companies Swoop and IPM.ai, the latest in a string of acquisitions by the independent agency group.

Both companies use machine learning, AI and data that help healthcare marketers identify, target and engage patient groups with the goal of improving outcomes, W2O said in announcing the acquisition. Swoop focuses on creating those patient groups, improving their chances of receiving medical services and participating in their treatment. IPM.ai identifies patients who are ideal candidates to participate in research, development and commercialization of therapies, it said.

“The next frontier for the healthcare industry is using value-based and outcomes-driven messaging to connect the right patients to the right treatment at the right time,” said W2O founder and CEO Jim Weiss. “In the increasingly digital post-pandemic era, we need to help our clients move faster and with more precision and efficiency to conduct clinical trials, launch new products, maximize peak revenue opportunities, and successfully navigate product lifecycles. The acquisition of Swoop and IPM.ai enables this game-changing approach – with the goal of improving healthcare from bench to bedside.”

Swoop and IPM.ai will be housed under W2O’s new health technology business, along with Symplur, the social media analytics company W2O acquired in April.

The purchase brings to nine the number of acquisitions W2O has made since it sold a piece of the company to New York investment firm New Mountain Capital in 2019.

The most recent moves include the October purchase of influencer and entertainment marketing agency Starpower as a means of accessing high-profile talent to help drive public health messages. W2O acquired Elysia Group, a health economic and outcomes research consulting firm, in September and Baltimore consultancy Discern Health two months before that. In January, the independent agency group added an advertising agency to its portfolio with its acquisition of 21Grams.