AiCure, a nearly decade-old startup using artificial intelligence to measure medication adherence and other behavior during clinical trials or normal care, has brought in $24.5 million in Series C funding.
Palisades Growth Capital led the raise, which also featured new backers Singtel Innov8, Asahi Kasei Corporation, Accelmed Growth Partners, and SpringRock Ventures. The round also included all of the company’s existing institutional investors: Baird Capital, New Leaf Venture Partners, the Pritzker Group, Biomatics Capital, Tribeca Venture Partners, and Silicon Valley Bank.
WHAT THEY DO
AiCure’s interactive medical assistant, or IMA, collects visual and audio data from patients to quantify their engagement with a treatment program, allowing the tool to identify patients who are at higher risk of dropout or non-adherence. While care providers can use these capabilities to better target their therapies and cut off preventable medical costs, drug developers can also use these trends to hone in on underperforming trial sites identify enrollees who are deliberately not participating.
AiCure says that it has filed over 100 patents, and has clients in more than 25 countries. Despite being founded in 2010, the company didn’t look to venture capital until its $12.25 million Series A in 2016, instead relying on a $7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
With today’s announcement, the company now sits at a total raise of nearly $52 million.
WHAT IT’S FOR
The AI company said in its announcement that the funds will help “accelerate commercial, engineering, and research and development activities in order to advance research-grade data insights for life science companies.”
MARKET SNAPSHOT
AiCure has published data over the years suggesting that its technology can improve patients’ adherence to therapy. While the company’s approach is fairly unique, this space has also seen AI-powered approaches like Pillo and Mabu that focus on conversation and the patient’s underlying psychology. Meanwhile, major stakeholders in pharma are looking to these kinds of new technologies as they work to reinvent the costly process of a traditional clinical trial.
ON THE RECORD
"Since starting AiCure in 2010, we have been focused on developing AI-driven insights – to see, hear and understand how people respond to treatment," Adam Hanina, CEO of AiCure, said in a statement. "We are delighted by the Series C and our new partners at PGC with new investors from Innov8, Asahi, Accelmed Growth Partners, and SpringRock. This is further validation of our precipitous growth, scientific integrity and our commitment to improving patients' health worldwide and our responsiveness to the market needs of our global clients in the life sciences."
