This morning Scottish artificial intelligence healthcare company snap40 revealed that it closed an $8 million seed funding round led by ADV, with participation from MMC Ventures and other private investors. 

snap40's offering is a system that monitors patients using a unique wearable device that employs AI and can alert clinicians if a patient’s condition is deteriorating. The company claims the system is equivalent to ICU monitoring. The wearable is able to monitor a patient’s respiration rate and oxygen level. According to the company’s webpage, the device has a 36-hour battery life and is completely wireless.  

“Human life is precious. Monitoring, protecting, and improving health is of importance to all corners of society. snap40 addresses that through a wearable device with smart technology built-in that allows us to identify human health risks with incredible accuracy,” Mike Dimelow, chief investment officer at ADV, said in a statement. “We see this evolving into an AI-driven platform on which snap40 and others can use and process health data from wearable products of the future, to identify sickness and disease patterns. The quality of the founding team, angel investors, and progress to date have made us really excited about the potential here to redefine health monitoring and extend its reach well beyond hospital walls.”

The system has an accompanying mobile platform that is both HIPAA and NHS compliant. Users have the ability to view patients' data and health trends either in real time or when they are in an appointment. The technology is also designed so that it can identify a person’s baseline, and then send alarms to users if a patient is clinically deteriorating. 

snap40 plans to use the money to expand further in the US. It reports already having pilots and clinical trials with US hospitals and institutions. 

According to the company, which is headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland with offices in New York, this latest financing is the highest digital health seed funding amount in the UK. The announcement also brings the startup to a total of $10 million in funding. 

The technology can be used in a number of different settings, such as in the ICU or among recent hospital discharges. 

“As a medical student, I witnessed patients live with long-term disability or die as a result of late recognition of their deteriorating health,” Christopher McCann, snap40 CEO and cofounder, said in a statement. “This is where technology can make a difference. It’s a moral imperative to use all of our knowledge in science and technology to improve healthcare — that’s why Stewart and I founded snap40. Using AI to recognize illness earlier and enable earlier treatment can save lives, and it can prepare our healthcare system for the future.”