Myia Labs, maker of a platform that applies AI health monitoring to consumer wearables, has raised $6.75 million in seed funding. BootstrapLabs and Zetta Venture Partners led the round, with the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and The Boston Consulting Group also participating.
Myia’s tech outfits Apple Watches, Fitbits and other devices with monitoring capabilities designed for patients with chronic illness or a post-operative condition. Specifically, the company’s product examines wearers’ heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, blood pressure, sleep and more using machine learning, which is able to alert a provider if a major change is detected.
“We’ve had streams of real-world health data for years, but only now with the advances of machine learning and AI techniques can we start turning this data into trustworthy, actionable clinical insights and scale preventative virtual care in an unprecedented way,” Myia CEO Simon MacGibbon said in a statement. “Many of these biometric markers of patient health status have been established in academic settings but have not been accessible and translated for practical use. We’re excited to be partnering with leaders in the medical profession to bring real-world insight into the clinic.”
Why it matters
Consumers’ interest in wearables continues to grow, and as a result the devices are more and more often finding their way into healthcare and wellness. While consumer-grade devices are most often featured in wellness and activity tracking programs, software like Myia’s could contribute to the adoption of these devices into active care — especially with the support of a major physician organization like the ACC.
“Through our collaboration with Myia, we are developing tools for clinical teams to monitor and improve their patients’ health status," Dr. John Rumsfeld, chief innovation officer for the American College of Cardiology, said in a statement. "Myia is taking a 'co-creation' approach with patients and clinicians that fits the ACC's vision for healthcare innovation, where technology is used to optimize high-quality, patient-centered care."
What’s the trend
Recent investigations have highlighted the value wearables can bring to chronic care monitoring, and the past year has seen major moves from Fitbit, Apple and others to make their devices more health-focused. Outside of consumer devices, other startups have also secured funding for their own wearable patient monitors specifically built for use in healthcare settings.
On the record
“Myia is truly exciting. With an opportunity eventually scaling to more than cardiovascular related health issues, Myia has the potential to both mitigate some of the most critical illnesses we are facing in our society as well as empower patients to take charge of their own health data,” Nicolai Wadstrom, founder and CEO of BootstrapLabs, said in a statement.
