On Monday Ultromics, maker of an AI-supported cardiac-decision-support tool, scored $10 million in funding. Oxford Sciences Innovation led the round with participation from Mayo Clinic.
This comes just two years after the startup scored £10m in a Series A round also led by Oxford Sciences Innovation.
WHAT THEY DO
Founded in 2017, this Oxford University spinout is currently focused on creating decision-support tools for the heart health space. In November it landed an FDA clearance for EchoGo Core, a cardiovascular image analysis tool. The technology uses AI in order to help scan through echocardiograms and look for heart disease or other issues. It was designed to be “plugged in” to a system in the U.S. and in Europe. The system can measure left ventricle ejection fraction and global longitudinal strain volume.
More recently it launched an advanced version of the original, dubbed EchoGo Pro, which has a CE mark, allowing it to be used in the EU. However, it is still pending U.S. FDA clearance for this product. The Pro is designed to automate predicting for coronary artery disease, according to the company.
The company plans to work with the Mayo clinic in an effort to validate the products.
WHAT IT’S FOR
The company said this new infusion of cash will go towards growing its next stage of business growth.
“To complete this financing under the shadow of a pandemic is a great endorsement of Ultromics’ recent successes and its potential as a world-class health-tech business, making a real difference to clinicians and improving patient outcomes. Mayo Clinic and Nina Capital bring a strong track record and deep expertise in the health-tech sector. They will help our push into the U.S. market and accelerate the development of new innovations and services,” Dr. Ross Upton, CEO and cofounder of Ultromics, said in a statement.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
Clinical-decision-support tools are on the rise. In fact, in November Biofourmis, maker of an AI-enabled monitoring and decision-support tool, announced it was teaming up with pharma giant Novartis for the commercial rollout of a platform that uses predictive analytics to manage heart failure in patient populations.
Also in the cardiac monitoring space is RhythmAnalytics, which landed a 510(k) clearance for its cloud-based software product that uses deep learning to read and interpret cardiac arrhythmias.
ON THE RECORD
“Ultromics presents a unique application of artificial intelligence in medical diagnostics in that it is trained on an image of moving anatomy,” Marta-Gaia Zanchi of Nina Capital said in a statement. “Most importantly, we were immediately impressed by the company’s strong health economics argument coupled with improved clinical outcomes. We are delighted to invest in Ultromics at this important stage in the company’s growth and look forward to working together to shape the future of imaging diagnostic solutions in cardiology.”
