PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pr3vent, Inc., a healthcare AI company developing machine vision for detecting eye disease in newborns, has closed a Series A financing led by InFocus Capital Partners, a venture capital fund specializing in the identification, capitalization and development of breakthrough and disruptive opportunities in the ophthalmic space. The announcement comes on the heels of a successful seed round in October 2018 led by the joint investment of Skyview Ventures and Trousdale Ventures.
As many as nine percent of newborns have pathology related to eyes, which, if left untreated, can have a life-long negative impact on vision.1 To date, scalable technology capable of examining millions of newborns has not been available. Pr3vent’s screening tool is the first AI-based system designed to protect against vision loss in babies. The company’s breakthrough technology detects abnormality from non-invasive images of the baby’s retina with an algorithm that instantly identifies pathology and can trigger examination and treatment when it is most effective.
According to market research firm Frost & Sullivan, healthcare leaders believe artificial intelligence will be a game changer this year. By the end of 2019, the firm predicts the market for healthcare IT applications using artificial intelligence is likely to reach $1.7 billion, a 68.5 percent increase of compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2022.
“InFocus Fund I is proud to lead the current round of funding for Pr3vent. We value the company’s innovative AI platform and understand the importance of helping it succeed,” stated Ron Weiss, MD, managing partner of InFocus Capital Partners. “Their creation is at the forefront of AI technology in ophthalmology, and we believe it will help prevent avoidable vision loss in children.”
“We are committed to building the future of AI in ophthalmology and changing the way healthcare providers detect, diagnose and treat eye disease in children,” says Pr3vent Co-founder Darius Moshfeghi. “InFocus Capital Partners’ Series A financing will help accelerate the processes of developing our revolutionary imaging system for early detection of preventable vision loss in newborns.”
“This financing round puts Pr3vent in a strong position to create a profitable AI solution in the ophthalmic space,” says CEO Jochen Kumm. “Machine vision and AI will contribute significantly to the future of the field, and we are thrilled that our AI system will help newborns.”
About InFocus Capital Partners
InFocus
Fund I is a venture capital fund specializing in the identification,
capitalization and development of breakthrough and disruptive
opportunities in the ophthalmic space. The leadership and advisory team
at InFocus consists of clinical ophthalmologists and key opinion
leaders, ophthalmic business professionals, clinical research experts
and seasoned finance executives who are well-positioned to understand
and evaluate life-science investments. InFocus takes an active role in
supporting investment portfolio companies throughout their life-cycle by
tapping into the varied skill-sets of its team members and engaging its
broad network of industry leaders and strategic partners.
About Skyview Ventures
Skyview Ventures is the venture
capital initiative of global private investment firm Skyview Capital,
LLC. Skyview Ventures partners with talented entrepreneurs, investing in
early stage, disruptive businesses, where the Skyview team can leverage
industry experience, its vast professional network, and its operational
and financial wherewithal. Current areas of focus include Digital Media,
IoT, Augmented and Virtual Reality, Telecom and Software, Social Media,
Fintech, HealthTech, Biotech and Consumer Products. To learn more,
please visit www.skyviewcapital.com/ventures.
About Trousdale Ventures
Trousdale Ventures, LLC Ventures is
a privately-held investment firm with an ownership portfolio that
encompasses a variety of companies involved in technology, IT
management, food manufacturing, lifestyle consumer products,
entertainment and child development products.
About Pr3vent, Inc.
Pr3vent, Inc. (pronounced “prē-vent”) is
a Palo Alto, Calif.-based healthcare technology company co-founded in
2017 by noted medical field veterans Jochen Kumm, PhD and Darius M.
Moshfeghi, MD. Their combined expertise in deep learning, ophthalmic
markets and telemedicine for retinal disease helped develop an AI
platform for early detection of preventable vision loss in newborns. The
company’s first product will be an autonomous scalable AI system for
detecting abnormality in newborn retinas. More information about
Pr3vent, Inc. can be found at www.pr3vent.com.
Reference
1 Reference: Tang, He, Na Li, Zhan Li,
Meiju Zhang, Meirong Wei, Changbing Huang, Jihong Wang, et al. “Fundus
Examination of 199 851 Newborns by Digital Imaging in China: A
Multicentre Cross-Sectional Study.” British Journal of Ophthalmology
102, no. 12 (December 1, 2018): 1742–46. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjophthalmol-2018-312366.
