G Medical Innovations, a public Cayman Islands-based maker of real-time vital signs monitoring tools, announced last week that it raised $20.5 million (A$30 million) in investments over the course of three years from Luxembourg-based investment group GEM Global.

WHAT THEY DO

G Medical’s products allow providers to continuously monitor patients’ ECG, heart rate, SPO2, body temperature, blood pressure and other health metrics inside and out of the hospital. In addition to clinician-facing monitoring software, the company currently focuses on its two lines of hardware products.

The first is the Prizma Medical Smartphone Case, a device that is placed over a patient’s personal smartphone that collects health data and uploads it to the cloud for providers or family members. The second is the Vital Signs Monitoring System and G Medical Patch, a modular offering that covers a broader range of vital signs and is intended for pre-hospitalization, hospitalization and at the home post-discharge.

WHAT IT’S FOR

G Medical said the investment will help the company build out its US and international sales force. It’s aiming to add 20 new representatives to its existing five by the end of next year, and is targeting a team of 60 by 2022.

“This is the funding catalyst that GMV has needed to significantly scale our sales function and fast track our market penetration,” CEO and Executive Director Dr. Yacov Geva said in a statement. “Based on our sales success to date achieved with a modest sized team in the United States, we can replicate this success with a larger and more experienced sales team, and as a result much more revenue will materialize. We have already identified a number of candidates and expansion is imminent.”

MARKET SNAPSHOT

Physicians and patients alike have reported interest in remote monitoring technologies, due to their convenience and potential to reduce costs. Fortunately for them, there is little shortage of device and platform makers tackling this space.

Recent headlines include a 510(k) clearance for Biobeat’s cuffless blood pressure, oxygenation and heart rate monitor, Bardy Diagnostics’ $35.5 million raise for its remote monitoring patches in the spring and Spry Health’s clearance for its COPD wearable.

And looking beyond a singular device, Current Health (formerly snap40) has recently made moves to incorporate devices from VivaLNK, MIR and others alongside its own upper-arm wearable monitor and broader platform.