Eko said yesterday that it raised a $20 million Series B round for the smart cardiac monitor it’s developing.
The San Francisco-based company is working on machine learning technology for a combined digital stethoscope and electrocardiogram, designed for both clinical and at-home monitoring. Eko said more than 3,000 hospitals worldwide use its platform, treating millions of patients.
Artis Ventures led the round, joined by DigiTx Partners, NTT Venture Capital, 3M Ventures, Mayo Clinic, Seraph Group and XTX Ventures, Eko said, adding that the funds are earmarked for R&D and commercialization.
“With the staggering number of people affected by heart disease, it’s clear that advancements in cardiac screening and monitoring have never been more urgent. Artificial intelligence is arguably one of the most powerful advancements in modern medicine, enabling clinicians to predict with more accuracy, diagnose with more confidence, and in the end, give their patients the best care possible,” CEO Connor Landgraf said in prepared remarks. “We will use this funding to drive more research, and continue development of data-driven technology to help physicians detect and monitor patients with heart disease that may otherwise be missed.”
“Eko is transforming cardiac care as we know it,” added Artis partner Vasudev Bailey. “They are the perfect example of how machine learning using quality data sets can positively influence patient outcomes and improve quality of care. This demonstrates the potential for an immense pipeline of life-saving applications where sound can aid in the screening of many other diseases.”
Eko said it plans to increase its investment in combination therapy projects with the Mayo Clinic, Northwestern Medicine and the University of California, San Francisco, aiming to tailor its technology for different heart conditions. Potential targets include atrial fibrillation, valvular heart disease, congestive heart failure and structural heart disease, the company said.
Kheiron Medical pulls in $22m Series A for MIA AI-powered breast cancer screening
Kheiron Medical Technologies said this week that it closed a $22 million Series A round for its Mia breast cancer screening technology, saying it plans to use the proceeds on clinical validation and trials in Europe, the U.S. and Asia.
The Series A was led by Atomico, joined by Connect Ventures, Greycroft, Hoxton Ventures and Exor Seeds. The Mia platform is designed to help radiologists evaluate full-field digital mammography images, London-based Kheiron said.
“The foundation of Kheiron’s approach to rigorous development and testing is to ensure reliably improved patient outcomes and safety by helping doctors in their daily practice,” CEO & co-founder Peter Kecskemethy said in prepared remarks. “In my childhood I spent many hours in my mother’s radiology department watching her carefully read and report imaging studies and struggling with workloads and working conditions. I know first-hand the stress, inefficiencies and extreme pressures that she and other radiologists face every day, and the uncertainty, especially the worry, when deciding if a patient’s image suggests cancer or not.”
“Clinical rigor is at the heart of everything we do. It is one thing to create an algorithm and entirely different to make it useful in clinical practice when patient lives are at stake,” added CTO & co-founder Tobias Rijken. “The key to helping radiologists diagnose breast cancer more accurately for the benefit of women everywhere was finding investors who understood how to safely validate and scale products for global impact. The team at Atomico has a wealth of experience doing this at companies such as Skype, Uber, Spotify and Virgin and we could not be more pleased to be working with them on this important problem.”
“Cancer care today is defined by fear and uncertainty but we believe we are on the cusp of a new age when AI-supported approaches to diagnostics will enable earlier and more accurate detection, tracking, and as a result better treatment outcomes,” Atomico principal Irina Haivas, who’s slated to join Kheiron’s board, said in a press release. “We invested in Kheiron because we believe they have one of the best machine learning teams in the world but also because they have such a deep understanding of radiology and the clinical validation required in order to usher in this new era of cancer diagnosis and care.”
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Profound Medical closes $9m round
Profound Medical (TSX:PRN) last week closed a private placement worth nearly $9 million that included a fully subscribed over-allotment.
Mississauga, Ontario-based Profound, which developed the Tulsa-Pro MR-guided prostate ablation device, said it sold a total of 10.5 million units at about 81¢ (C$1.10) apiece to Canaccord Genuity and Echelon Wealth Partners, for gross proceeds of about $8.5 million (C$11.5 million). Each unit consists of a stock share and half of a two-year warrant at a $1.55 exercise price.
The company plans to use the net proceeds to cover a reimbursement study and a Tulsa-Pro clinical trial, building out its sales & marketing infrastructure, R&D and other general corporate purposes.
Tulsa-Pro received FDA 510(k) clearance last month and has also obtained CE Mark approval in Europe.
The company is also commercializing the Sonalleve device for ablation of uterine fibroids and bone metastases. Sonalleve has CE Mark and China Food & Drug Administration approvals.
Shares of PRN were down -2.7% to C$1.07per share today in late-morning trading.
($1 = C$1.32483)
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Neuromod Devices raises $9m for Lenire tinnitus device
Neuromod Devices said today that it raised $8.6 million for the Lenire neuromodulation device it’s developing to treat tinnitus.
The Lenire device is designed to stimulate nerves in the tongue in synchrony with sound stimulation of the auditory nerve. The €8 million round was comprised of equity and venture debt and led by existing investors Fountain Healthcare Partners and Moffett Investment Holdings, joined by new venture debt investors Kreos Capital and Silicon Valley Bank, the Dublin-based company said. The device won CE Mark approval in the European Union in November 2014.
The proceeds are earmarked for increasing Lenire’s European commercial footprint, scaling up manufacturing and pursuing 510(k) clearance from the FDA, Neuromod Devices said.
“We are very pleased to have Kreos Capital and Silicon Valley Bank join our existing investors Fountain Healthcare Partners and Moffett Investment Holdings. This investment will allow us to ramp-up the manufacturing of our Lenire tinnitus treatment product, ensuring it will be more widely available for many underserved patients suffering with tinnitus across Europe. We will also build on European commercialisation through a regulatory submission to the FDA to make way for a launch in the U.S.,” CEO Ross O’Neill said in prepared remarks.
“Neuromod is an exceptional business with a unique technology and product. We are excited to be working with them to fund their expansion across Europe and the United States. It is estimated that 150 million people suffer with chronic tinnitus globally and we believe Lenire offers an important breakthrough to address this large unmet medical need,” added Kreos Capital’s Cian O’Driscoll.
“We are delighted to join Fountain Healthcare and Moffett Investments to support the growth of Neuromod Devices. Neuromod are yet another example of Ireland’s innovative life-science companies and we look forward to helping them bring their Lenire tinnitus treatment to the millions of sufferers across Europe and the U.S.,” SVB’s Clive Lennox said.
“As an early-stage investor in Neuromod, we are excited to be at a point where we are ramping up manufacturing and European commercialisation of Lenire and looking towards US regulatory filing. The market potential for Neuromod and Lenire is clearly significant necessitating investment in manufacturing sufficient inventory to meet the existing and anticipated demand,” Fountain Healthcare managing partner Manus Rogan said in a press release.
($1 = €0.91304387)
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Healionics raises $5m for FIH trial of Stargraft
Healionics said this week that it closed a $4.5 million convertible note round for a first-in-human study of its StarGraft vascular graft.
“We welcome the participation of a number of well-known angel and venture investors in this financing round and would also like to thank our existing investors for their continued support,” CEO Mike Connolly said in prepared remarks. “The start of clinical trials is a significant milestone for the company, as we work toward our goal of regulatory approval and commercial launch of StarGraft.”
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