Led · Series B · Jul 2024

ObvioHealth operates the proprietary ObvioGo digital clinical trial platform, which provides automated study design and configuration, recruitment dashboards, site- and patient-facing tools for eConsent, eCOA, ePRO and EMR data integration. The company released ObvioGo 2.0 to streamline and automate clinical workflows for trial sites. ObvioGo is integrated with Oracle's EDC and CTMS software and provides automated data management, formatting and reporting capabilities. ObvioHealth intends to accelerate deployment of oncology clinical trials through a new strategic partnership and to expand research beyond the 35 countries where it already conducts trials. The alliance strengthens the company's domain expertise in oncology, a therapeutic area that represents more than 40 percent of all global clinical trials. Financially, the company announced a Series B extension totaling USD $18.4 million, capped by a strategic investment from Guardant Health. ObvioHealth is a healthtech company described in the article as a clinical-trials provider. The company operates in both the United States and Singapore. Filings with Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) report that ObvioHealth raised $15 million in its latest funding round. The article does not specify the financing instrument, investor names, valuation, or any participation breakdown. No operating metrics (revenue, user counts) or future plans were disclosed in the filings cited by the article. All information in this description is drawn from the ACRA filings referenced in the article. ObvioHealth operates a proprietary ecosystem and a downloadable decentralized clinical trial (DCT) app that lets participants take part in trials from home. In the four years since launch the company has been awarded nearly 40 studies from 28 blue-chip clients, implemented in 28 countries, across 16 therapeutic areas. Its platform includes GDPR-compliant bridging software to query EHR data and other tools for conducting virtual and hybrid trials. The company plans to boost IT capabilities, make key hires in Asia, and expand its Singapore office into a technology hub. Strategic partnerships with Dedalus and Novotech will integrate clinical research with EHR data for trial design and recruitment and establish ObvioHealth as Novotech's preferred provider for virtual trials in APAC. The business says the financing will support global growth, platform development, and expanded virtual-trial competencies. ObvioHealth offers a proprietary platform designed for digital and remote/at-home research that enables subjects to participate in studies from their homes. The platform integrates devices for real-time data collection and includes virtual chat features to boost protocol compliance. ObvioHealth positions its product as improving the experience for both research subjects and study sponsors. The company is led by Ivan Jarry and is based in Orlando, Florida. Recently it announced sponsorship of a virtual COVID-19 research study to monitor prevalence, symptoms and immune response of 10,000 U.S. participants over 12 months. The firm raised funding to support continued expansion of operations and its business reach. ObvioHealth Inc is described in the article as a contract research organisation (CRO). The company announced a $3 million Series A financing. The Series A was led by TKS I. TKS I is a Singapore-based venture fund focused on life sciences and healthcare. No additional operating metrics, past rounds, or future plans were disclosed in the article.

Participated · Equity · Nov 2021

Lunit raised capital to acquire Volpara, a breast-cancer screening–focused AI company that serves over 2,000 U.S. medical institutions. The company secured ₩166.5 billion via convertible bonds and will use the funds entirely for the Volpara acquisition. New Zealand’s High Court approved the deal and Volpara’s shares were suspended on the Australian exchange, completing the legal steps; the acquisition will be finalized this month upon payment. Lunit plans post-merger integration (PMI) and intends to begin selling Volpara products globally, centered on the U.S., as soon as late this year. Volpara reported 322억원 (39.41 million NZD) in revenue for 2023 and has exhibited a five‑year CAGR above 50%; its results will be included in Lunit’s consolidated financials from June. Lunit’s CEO stated that M&A approval and funding completion removed uncertainties and will reinforce the company’s position in the global medical AI market. Lunit develops AI-powered solutions for cancer diagnostics and treatment support. The company completed a $150 million paid-in capital increase via a public offering that was fully paid in. Shareholder participation surpassed 100%, and NH Investment & Securities served as the underwriter for the funding. The Board approved the capital raise on August 23 and the process was concluded on November 9. Lunit plans to allocate $52 million to next-generation product development, $15 million to recruiting global talent and labor costs, and $15 million to intangible asset acquisitions. It will also invest $38 million in overseas subsidiaries in the US and Europe and establish a $30 million corporate venture capital (CVC) vehicle for strategic investments. Lunit, led by CEO Brandon Suh, develops AI-powered diagnostic tools for cancer screening and biomarkers that predict and guide which patients respond to specific cancer therapies. Its radiology suite, Lunit INSIGHT, covers chest x-ray and mammography and is available in more than 30 countries. The company distributes its radiology solutions through partnerships with medical device companies including GE Healthcare, Philips, and FujiFilm, and will be offered in the U.S. following recent FDA approval. Lunit raised $61M in pre-IPO funding with backers including HealthQuest Capital (which invested $20M), Casdin Capital, American Cancer Society BrightEdge, Tybourne Capital Management, and NSG Ventures. In addition, Guardant Health made a $26M strategic investment; together the financings bring Lunit’s total secured capital to more than $135M ahead of a planned KOSDAQ IPO next year. No additional operating metrics (revenue/users) were disclosed in the article. Lunit is a Seoul, South Korea-based medical artificial intelligence firm specializing in precision diagnostics and therapies. The company develops AI-powered radiology and pathology solutions using deep learning. Lunit focuses on advanced medical image analytics and data-driven imaging biomarkers. Lunit, abbreviated from "learning unit," is devoted to developing these technologies via cutting-edge deep learning technology. In July 2021 Lunit raised $26M in a Series C led by Guardant Health and Shinhan Investment. The round was backed by Asian investors, including InterVest, IMM Investment, Kakao Ventures, and Legend Capital of Lenovo Group.

Participated · Equity · May 2017

Guardant Health is a four-year-old, Redwood City, California–based biotech that sells blood tests to track and potentially detect cancer. Its core product is a liquid biopsy test that sequences cell-free tumor DNA from blood to reconstruct tumor genomes and monitor disease. The company says its sequencing technology has become roughly 1,000 to 10,000 times more accurate, allowing detection of trace DNA fragments. Guardant reports matching tissue biopsies with 99.3% diagnostic accuracy and often finds more mutations than doctors detect with traditional biopsies. The company aims to help one million people over the next five years. Financially, Guardant raised $360 million in the reported round, bringing its total funding to $550 million. Guardant Health develops a non-invasive genomic sequencing test that detects tumor DNA fragments from two vials of blood, claiming 99.3% diagnostic accuracy versus tissue biopsies. The company says its sequencing technology has improved roughly 1,000 to 10,000 times in sensitivity, allowing reconstruction of tumor genomes and detection of mutations often missed in tissue. Guardant operates a testing business serving hospitals, payers/insurers, international distributors and pharmaceutical companies that pay for testing services. It reports a run rate of about 20,000 patients per year and says roughly 2,000 U.S. oncologists use the test. The company is building a large database of metastatic disease to support drug discovery and to act as a full-service partner to pharma across clinical trials. Guardant is a roughly 135-person company with nearly $200 million raised to date. Guardant Health commercialized Guardant360, a biopsy-free blood cancer screening test built on proprietary DNA sequencing that pulls tumor DNA fragments from the bloodstream to profile genomic mutations. Guardant360 launched about a year ago as the company's first commercially available product and is positioned to help physicians match patients to effective therapies in real time. The test is marketed to detect genomic alterations for breast, lung, skin, colorectal, and prostate cancers without a traditional tissue biopsy. Guardant Health says only about 30 percent of the oncologist market has access to high-tech solutions, and competitors named in the articles include Illumina, Sequenom, and Foundation Medicine. The company plans to use the new funding to scale operations and expand Guardant360's availability in clinics. Its total disclosed funding now stands at $90 million. Guardant Health develops Guardant 360, a non-invasive cancer screening test that analyzes blood samples instead of tissue. The test was built to help patients avoid risky biopsies, which can cost around $10,000 for someone without health insurance. The company plans to use the new capital to expand the commercial release of Guardant 360. Guardant Health raised a fresh $30 million funding round led by Khosla Ventures with participation from Sequoia Capital and Pejman Mar Ventures. Founded in 2012 and based in Redwood City, Calif., the startup has now raised a total of $40 million to date. Guardant Health offers Guardant360, a non-invasive pan-cancer blood test that reconstructs portions of a patient’s tumor genome from trace fragments of tumor DNA in the bloodstream using its "Digital Sequencing" technology. The test is designed to let oncologists more frequently obtain up-to-date genetic information and match patients to appropriate therapies without surgical biopsies. The company says 75% of cancer patients take ineffective drugs due to a lack of personalized mutation information, and cites a clinical study of 250 patients in which nearly 90% of tumor mutations were detectable in blood and could be treated accordingly. Guardant launched to the public and has secured state and federal approvals for the test. The startup has raised funding to support commercialization and continued deployment of the technology; it has deep technical talent in its co-founders Helmy Eltoukhy and AmirAli Talasaz, both with backgrounds at the Stanford Genome Technology Center.