This morning digital physical therapy program Sword Health announced that it scored $9 million in the second phase of its Series A funding round, which brings the round's total to $17 million. Khosla Ventures led with participation from Founders Fund, Green Innovations, Lachy Groom, Vesalius Biocapital and Faber Ventures.

This news comes roughly a year after the startup announced the $8 million first phase of its Series A funding. Today the company boasts of $22 million in investment dollars. 

WHAT THEY DO 

Sword works with insurers, health systems and self-insured employers to provide tech-enabled physical therapy to its members, with a focus on musculoskeletal disorders.

Patient wear motion-sensing trackers that wirelessly communicate with the digital therapist. The therapist then guides the patient through each therapy session with real-time feedback. The platform will collect patient data, which clinicians can analyze and pull out metrics. 

WHAT IT’S FOR 

The company plans to put the new funds toward distribution, partnerships, sales and marketing. It also plans strategic product, clinical and operational investments. 

“At Sword, we’ve taken a disciplined and incremental approach to growth,” Virgilio Bento, founder and CEO, said in a statement. “Given the strong interest from the investment community and the demand we’re seeing in the market, we decided it was the right moment to expand and set SWORD’s digital care program as the new gold standard of care in the musculoskeletal space.”

MARKET SNAPSHOT

As patients increasingly look to stay in their home for care, we are seeing a rise in virtual physical therapy programs. Kaia Health also specializes in musculoskeletal disorders and uses 2D motion tracking technology. In September it landed $8 million in a round led by Optum Ventures. 

Companies well established in the digital physical therapy space are Reflexion Health and Physitrack. Physera and Hinge Health are another two companies that have raised a good deal of funding to tackle these issues. 

ON THE RECORD 

“Sword’s digital clinical care model has been shown to significantly improve healthcare outcomes for patients while reducing employer costs, reshaping the future of physical therapy,” Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, said in a statement. “This allows for very exciting options on innovative business models for the company."