SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Viz.ai, an applied artificial intelligence (AI) healthcare company focused on time sensitive conditions, has secured $21 million in Series A funding led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from GV, formerly Google Ventures. Founded in 2016 by Dr. Chris Mansi and Dr. David Golan, Viz.ai has built the first FDA cleared computer aided triage software to detect and triage urgent stroke cases. The AI cloud-based platform analyzes brain scans for large vessel occlusions (LVOs) and sends the scan to a neurovascular specialist to facilitate early therapeutic intervention.
The company will use the funding for market expansion and to extend their product portfolio beyond stroke. Mamoon Hamid, General Partner at Kleiner Perkins, will join the Viz.ai board of directors.
Worldwide, more than 6 million stroke-related deaths occur every year and strokes are the number one cause of long-term disability in the nation. Outcomes are predicated on timely diagnosis and early access to neurological specialists. With Viz.ai, CT scans are automatically analyzed by advanced deep learning algorithms, which look for large vessel occlusion strokes and alert a neurological specialist. This happens in minutes, enabling prompt action.
“In stroke every minute matters. Our goal is to fundamentally change healthcare, making it proactive rather than reactive. By integrating Viz, we believe healthcare systems can increase access to proven life saving therapy and reduce the time to treatment across their referral network. AI-assisted triage has the potential to save lives and reduce disability,” said Dr. Chris Mansi, “we are delighted to partner with top tier investors at Kleiner Perkins and GV.”
“We were attracted not only to the technology behind Viz.ai and its impact on patient outcomes, but also its adoption model. Many new health-tech solutions struggle to gain traction because they are an outside-in sale to medical teams, requiring changes to procedures and workflows. In contrast, physicians and their teams are driving adoption of the Viz.ai platform because it is not disruptive to emergency room procedures and fits naturally into existing systems,” said Mamoon Hamid, General Partner, Kleiner Perkins.
About Stroke
Stroke is a leading cause of permanent disability, death and healthcare costs globally. According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA), stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S. and a leading cause of disability. When a stroke occurs, and the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a portion of the brain is blocked, 2 million brain cells die every minute meaning "time is brain.”
About Viz.ai, Inc.
Viz.ai, Inc is emerging as the leader in applied artificial intelligence in healthcare. Our mission is to fundamentally improve how healthcare is delivered in the world, through intelligent software that promises to reduce time to treatment and improve access to care.
Our flagship product, Viz LVO, leverages advanced deep learning to communicate time-sensitive information about stroke patients straight to a specialist who can intervene and treat.
In February 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted a De Novo clearance for Viz LVO, the first-ever computer-aided triage and notification platform. Most recently, Viz.ai announced its second FDA clearance for Viz CTP through the 510(k) pathway, offering healthcare providers an important tool for automated cerebral image analysis.
We are located in San Francisco and Tel Aviv and backed by leading Silicon Valley investors, including Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures, Innovation Endeavors and DHVC.
To find out more about our mission, technology and team, visit http://www.Viz.ai, follow us on Twitter or find us on LinkedIn.
About Kleiner Perkins
For five decades, Kleiner Perkins has made history by partnering with some of the most ingenious and forward-thinking founders in technology and life sciences. Through twenty venture funds and four growth funds we’ve invested $10 billion in hundreds of companies including pioneers such as Amazon, Genentech and Google. Today, Kleiner Perkins continues to help founders and their bold ideas make history investing in companies like Desktop Metal, IronNet, Ring, Spotify, Slack, and UiPath.
For more information, visit http://www.kleinerperkins.com and follow us @kpcb.
