Guilford, CT, Feb. 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Hyperfine Research has closed an oversubscribed $90 Million Series D financing round, with support from investors including GV (formerly Google Ventures), Nextrans (KClavis-Nextrans), Axiom Associates, Huami, Colle Capital, LSS, and Altium Capital.
The funds will be used to aggressively scale-up commercial expansion of the company’s category-defining Swoop™ portable MR imaging platform in the US and will immediately accelerate the company’s plans for multiple country launches. In addition, the funds will advance progress on new regulatory clearances, fast-track continued AI and deep learning developments in image accessibility, and expand the company’s ability to work with pioneering physicians to identify use cases that were never before thought possible.
“Our mission is simple: democratize healthcare for all patients, everywhere,” commented company founder Dr. Jonathan Rothberg. “We refuse to accept barriers to accessible, equitable care, and we intend to make the previously impossible both possible and affordable by delivering MR imaging to the patient, wherever that patient is.”
“Investing in a company is the hallmark of confidence, and we are very appreciative that so many highly-respected organizations have responded so enthusiastically to the market need for portable MR imaging we have ignited,” commented Chief Medical Officer Dr. Khan Siddiqui. “With the support from all of our investors, we will change the way the world delivers care to patients – affordably, anywhere, any time.”
ABOUT MR IMAGING and the Swoop™ Portable MRI System
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) uses a magnetic field, radio waves, and a computer to produce detailed pictures of the body’s internal structures that are clearer, more detailed, and more likely in some instances to identify and accurately characterize disease than other imaging methods. However, fixed MRI systems can be inconvenient and inaccessible for providers and patients, particularly when time is critical. Transport to the MR suite demands complicated scheduling coordination, moving patients, and, often, 4- to 6-hour patient backlogs — all of which compromise the utility of MRI as a diagnostic tool in time-sensitive settings, such as intensive care units and emergency rooms. Furthermore, high capital investments, electrical power needs, and significant maintenance requirements present barriers to adoption across all populations, acutely so for developing countries and rural geographies.
Hyperfine’s Swoop™ Portable MR Imaging System is designed to address the limitations of current imaging technologies and make MRI accessible anytime, anywhere, to any patient. Swoop™ wheels directly to the patient’s bedside, plugs into a standard electrical wall outlet, and is controlled by an Apple iPad®. Designed as a complementary system to traditional MRIs at a fraction of the cost, images that display the internal structure of the head are captured by Swoop™ at the patient’s bedside, with results in minutes, enabling critical decision-making capabilities across a variety of clinical settings.
About Hyperfine Research: Hyperfine’s mission is to make MR imaging available to everyone. The Swoop™ Portable MR Imaging System is the result of a total rethink of MR’s potential in the healthcare landscape. What if MR imaging didn’t require a dedicated suite, extensive training or expensive upkeep? The wonders of high-field MRI can be used for the appropriate patients, and Swoop™ can be deployed at the point-of-care for everyone else. Hyperfine received market-ready FDA clearance for its portable MR imaging for the brain and head of patients of all ages in August 2020. Since its launch in the fall of 2020, Swoop has been honored repeatedly, as one of two finalists for the Best New Radiology Vendor of 2020 by Aunt Minnie, the winner of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) 2020 incubatED Medical Device Innovation Challenge, and with a Best Practices Product Innovation Award from Frost & Sullivan, and most recently as a 2021 Innovation Awards Honoree from CES. Hyperfine is part of 4Catalyzer, a health technology incubator with offices in CT, NY, CA and Taiwan.
About Nextrans (KClavis-Nextrans): Nextrans has supported more than 100 startups around the world since 2004. They understand the many challenges associated with starting a disruptive technology company, and focus on identifying passionate founders and teams with unparalleled execution ability and fortitude. Nextrans invests more than just capital, they leverage their extensive network in Asia and globally to support their portfolio companies.
About Huami Corporation (NYSE: HMI) Huami’s mission is to connect health with technology. Since its inception in 2013, Huami has developed a platform of proprietary technology including AI chips, biometric sensors, and data algorithms, which drive a broadening line of smart health devices for consumers, and analytics services for industry. In 2019, Huami shipped 42.3 million smart watches and fitness bands, including its own Amazfit brand, and products developed and manufactured for Xiaomi, comprising 26% of global category shipments. Huami Corp is based in Hefei, China, with U.S. operations, Huami-USA, based in Cupertino, Calif.
About Colle Capital Partners: Colle Capital Partners is a global, opportunistic, early-stage technology venture fund. Managers have completed deals in various verticals and across all capital structures. While they tend to gravitate towards Logistics, Healthcare and FinTech, they remain opportunistic in their approach. They pay special attention to data. Virtually all their deals have an intrinsic relationship with data as they believe the ability to isolate, utilize and act upon the best possible information is the foundation of success.
About Altium Capital: Altium Capital Management is a NY-based alternative investment manager primarily focused in the Healthcare industry. Their CEO, Jacob Gottlieb, has over 20 years of healthcare investing experience, developing successful teams of investment professionals and business management staff. Their team includes medical doctors, scientific professionals, and experienced fund managers who work together to uncover unique investment insights to produce superior returns. Their investment universe is mostly concentrated in therapeutic, small/micro-cap, private & public companies, with significant near/medium-term catalysts, as well as those raising capital from institutional investors for the first time.
