HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BrainCheck, the cognitive healthcare platform for physicians, today announced $10 million in Series B funding. The round is led by Next Coast Ventures and S3 Ventures, with additional investors including Nueterra Capital, Tensility Ventures, and True Wealth Ventures. In addition, UPMC Enterprises and SelectQuote (NYSE: SLQT) have joined as strategic investors. The round takes the total capital raised by BrainCheck to date to $20 million.
“We are at the forefront of improving access to cognitive assessment and care,” said Yael Katz, PhD, co-founder and CEO of BrainCheck. “With early diagnosis comes treatment and intervention. These funds will allow us to accelerate the adoption of our platform and work with clinicians to help more patients live better and safer lives, decrease caregiver frustration, and save health systems trillions of dollars. I believe that BrainCheck can help cognitive care evolve the way cancer care has since the 1970s, when chemotherapy was one-size-fits-all.”
BrainCheck is shifting the narrative around cognitive impairment from reactive management to proactive care by bridging the growing accessibility gap in the U.S. between millions of patients and the limited 12,000 neurologists who traditionally perform cognitive screenings by empowering primary care doctors to conduct these screenings at the point of care. In fact, one in 10 seniors (age 65+) has dementia, and in 30 years, that number is expected to triple. But cognitive impairment isn’t limited to the senior population, according to the CDC, one in nine adults aged 45 and older report subjective cognitive decline and one in 14 COVID-19 survivors have neurocognitive disorder. Physicians at hospital systems including Cleveland Clinic, MD Anderson and Johns Hopkins are using BrainCheck to conduct cognitive testing.
BrainCheck is an FDA Class II Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), which allows physicians to facilitate in-person or remote assessment for early and accurate impressions of cognitive function. The 10-to-15-minute test is covered by Medicare and by most private insurers. BrainCheck can be administered on an iPhone, iPad or desktop computer to evaluate a patient, assign them a Cognitive Quotient (CQ) score, and produce a personalized cognitive care plan within minutes. The company’s platform is a digital, easy to use alternative to the pen-and-paper brain health tests that are most commonly used by specialists.
The BrainCheck platform is used in over 400 neurology, primary care and geriatrics practices to reduce the human and economic toll of cognitive impairment and dementia. Mount Sinai clinicians have begun using BrainCheck in COVID-19 recovery centers to track and manage cognitive impairment resulting from the virus. The platform is also being leveraged by researchers and clinicians studying and treating the long-term cognitive issues from COVID-19.
Strategic investor UPMC is a $23 billion world-renowned health care provider and insurer at the forefront of innovative patient care. Through its UPMC Enterprises division, its innovation, commercialization, and venture capital arm, UPMC invests intellectual and financial capital to develop solutions that benefit not only UPMC but the wider health care industry. Health systems around the world will look to this partnership as an example of state-of-the-science cognitive healthcare. With investment from UPMC Enterprises, BrainCheck promises to join the ranks of game-changing companies like Health Catalyst, Evolent Health, Vivify, and Xealth, that are evidence of UPMC’s strategy, resources and customer relationships at work.
SelectQuote, another strategic investor, provides unbiased comparisons from multiple, highly-rated insurance companies allowing people to choose the policy and terms that best meet their unique needs. Through its Population Health services, the organization is focused on proactive engagement and promoting better health outcomes within the Senior community. When cognitive concerns are identified in SelectQuote’s standard Health Risk Assessment, a Population Health associate will help the individual access and complete a BrainCheck test and guide them either to their primary care physician or a provider in the Population Health network for further assessment and diagnosis as needed. The organization routinely engages in more than 20 million conversations with seniors every year, and by teaming up with BrainCheck will revolutionize access to cognitive healthcare and open the door to earlier detection, improved diagnosis, and better care paths.
“BrainCheck shows promise as a cognitive assessment tool that would allow patients to independently complete the test while allowing physicians to spend more time reviewing the results and planning care with patients,” said Dr. Adele Towers, director of risk adjustment at UPMC Enterprises and a geriatric medicine specialist at UPMC.
Too often, cognitive impairment is not diagnosed and treated until it has progressed to advanced stages. However, studies show that early detection is essential and annual cognitive screenings can change that. BrainCheck eliminates common barriers to care by offering a simple and scalable assessment tool that is not exclusive to the use of neuropsychologists, but instead can be administered by general physicians, expanding access for all healthcare providers to the resources needed to treat patients.
“BrainCheck is a breakthrough platform that has the potential to transform how we diagnose and treat cognitive impairment,” said Michael Smerklo, co-founder and managing director of Next Coast Ventures. “The combination of technical sophistication and ease of use makes BrainCheck a perfect tool for doctors and health systems everywhere. I’m so impressed by what Dr. Katz and her team have achieved to date and am excited to support the team as they continue to innovate and scale.”
For medical professionals interested to learn more about BrainCheck and request a demo click here.
About BrainCheck
BrainCheck provides rapid, mobile cognitive assessment and decision support technology to physicians, empowering them to deliver high-quality, personalized cognitive health care to patients everywhere and get reimbursed. This helps patients live better and safer lives at home, decreases caregiver frustration, and saves health systems trillions. Founded in 2015 by neuroscientists and technologists Drs. David Eagleman and Yael Katz. BrainCheck helps lessen the human and economic toll of cognitive impairment and dementia through its interactive cognitive assessment and care management technology. BrainCheck is used in over 400 clinical practices and by 150,000 people around the world to detect cognitive changes early and enable patients, caregivers, and clinicians to work together to implement personalized recommendations to preserve brain health and functional independence. BrainCheck enables physicians to get paid for cognitive care management (via Medicare reimbursement and risk-adjusted capitated payments) and simultaneously reduces healthcare costs by keeping patients healthy, safe, and out of the hospital. To learn more, please visit braincheck.com.
