December 13, 2017 Source: Techinasia 537
Singapore-based health analytics platform Biofourmis announced the close of its series A funding round, while also unveiling a partnership with US medical research institute, the Mayo Clinic.
The startup raised US$5 million from NSI Ventures – part of Singaporean private equity firm Northstar Group – and Aviva Ventures, the VC arm of UK insurance company Aviva.
Through its collaboration with the Mayo Clinic, Biofourmis will get access to data from clinical trials and research carried out by the institute.
The two partners will also work on the development of wearable biosensor-based diagnostic technology to predict heart failure events in patients.
In a statement, Biofourmis confirmed that the Mayo Clinic has a financial interest in the startup and its technology. It also said that any revenue the Mayo Clinic receives from the activities related to its collaboration with Biofourmis will be used to support its nonprofit efforts in education, patient care, and research.
Founded in late 2015, Biofourmis uses AI-driven software to analyze medical data gathered from patients. Data is collected from a range of sources, including wearable health and fitness trackers, hospital databases, and individual lab reports. The company claims to have analyzed data from over 100,000 patients.
These analyses can then be used by healthcare professionals to help diagnose and treat conditions, as well as by health insurers to assess prospective policy holders.
See: This startup taps the power of big data analytics to make you healthier
The startup’s SaaS platform – named Biovitals – gives doctors the ability to monitor specific patients, who receive reminders from the system about things like when they should take their medication. The goal is efficiency – remote monitoring can allow more targeted care and lower the chances of patients making a return visit to the doctor.
Illustrating the costs of high readmission rates, Biofourmis founder and CEO Kuldeep Singh Rajput said in a statement that one in five patients in the US find themselves back in hospital within 30 days of being discharged.
“When it comes to heart failure management alone, this phenomenon has cost the US healthcare system more than US$31 billion annually,” he said. “Research tells us, however, that if patients received proper care coordination post-discharge, it could save the system an estimated US$17 billion annually.”
Biofourmis will use the series A capital to scale its operations and fund the commercial launch of Biovitals.
The startup raised US$1 million in August 2016 in a seed round led by South African healthcare management firm SpesNet and social innovation consultancy Eden Strategy, with several angel investors also participating.
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