UK-based Monica Healthcare, one of the earliest digital health companies, has been acquired by GE Healthcare. While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, investor Catapult Ventures shared that it recieved a 3.5x return on its investment. MobiHealthNews's reporting has the company's total funding to date around $7 million.

“At GE Healthcare, we are committed to improving the health care experience across care areas, including childbirth,” Tammy Noll, general manager of GE Healthcare’s Maternal-Infant Care division, said in a statement. “Through this acquisition, we will combine the incredible expertise and mobile-digital innovation from the Monica team with GE Healthcare’s longstanding industry leadership and customer focus – all with the goal of bettering maternal and infant care for patients worldwide.”

Monica makes a Bluetooth-connected fetal monitor called the Novii Wireless Patch System. The single-use patch monitors maternal heart rate, fetal heart rate, and uterine activity. It was FDA cleared in 2014 and builds on an older technology called the AN24 system that was cleared in 2011. The technology performs especially well on pregnant people who are obese, a situation where traditional doppler ultrasounds are less reliable.

Founded in 2005, Monica Healthcare was one of the early players in the digital health space. GE Healthcare's relationship with the company isn't totally new: it has been a distribution partner since 2015. According to Catapult Ventures, Monica's technologies were used by more than 100,000 patients last year at approximately 1,000 sites across Europe, Asia and North America.

“Joining GE Healthcare provides a fantastic opportunity to bring together Monica’s digital offerings with GE Healthcare’s global infrastructure to provide even stronger capabilities and solutions to customers around the world,” Carl Barratt, CEO of Monica Healthcare, said in a statement.