Israeli digital health device maker TytoCare raised $11 million in a round led by Cambia Health Solutions. Existing investors include OrbiMed Israel Partners, LionBird, Walgreens, and Fosun Pharma. This brings the company's total funding to $18.5 million to date. Update: A previous version of this post had a less precise figure for the company's total funding.
TytoCare is developing a handheld device that can help patients examine their mouth, throat, eye, heart, lung, and skin. The device can also measure the patient’s temperature and heart rate. These exams can be guided by a physician online or guided offline by instructions displayed on the device. In either situation, TytoCare aims to have the physician ultimately provide the patient with a diagnosis based on the information collected by the device. TytoCare will work with another telemedicine company that has a physician service.
“TytoCare is addressing key limitations in the rapidly expanding use of telehealth for remote patient diagnosis of common acute problems,” TytoCare CEO and Founder Dedi Gilad said in a statement. “At present, the range of telehealth diagnoses is limited because clinicians must rely on phone or video conference only, without the benefit of vital clinical information provided by physical exam tools in the provider setting. TytoCare can remove these limitations with its connected examination technology.”
According to the company, this round of funding will help it receive FDA clearance for the device and expedite growth in the US.
When TytoCare raised its last round in March 2014, Gilad told MobiHealthNews the device will either be sold directly to the patient for around $200 or bundled with some kind of physician service. Another vertical that TytoCare will explore is the “multi-patient environment”, which he said includes self-service kiosks at schools, in employer’s offices, or in retail clinics.
Cambia Health Solutions, a health insurance company, has invested in several digital health technologies including Wildflower Health, which has developed women's health apps; Carena, which offers a video visit service for health systems; Caremerge, makers of a care coordination software for seniors in assisted living facilities; and employee benefits platform company Maxwell Health.
