WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Altoida, Inc., the precision neurology company pioneering non-invasive brain health measurement and neurological disease diagnostics with AI and augmented reality (AR), today announced that it has successfully raised an additional $14 million for its Series A round with new and existing investors. The investment was co-led by M Ventures (the corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) and Whitecap Venture Partners. New investors HonorHealth and BTOV participated in the round with existing investors Alpana Ventures, Hikma Ventures, Fyrfly, and VI Partners, bringing the total Series A funds raised to $20.3 million.
Altoida’s mission is to set a new gold standard in brain health. The company’s precision neurology platform is designed to accelerate and improve drug development, research, and care for people with neurological diseases, like Alzheimer’s, using data captured with a standard smartphone or tablet. Globally, Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) affect 47 million people, with cases staggeringly expected to double in the next 20 years.
The funds will be used to further build Altoida’s medical, scientific, engineering, and commercial teams to pursue novel research, accelerate product development, and drive commercialization of its platform across US and global markets. The funds will also be used to validate its platform’s applications across additional neurological diseases like Parkinson’s and Schizophrenia, and to expand the company’s US and global IP and regulatory portfolios.
Altoida’s technology platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze cognitive and functional test results and help diagnose neurological diseases, like Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s. The proprietary 10-minute set of digital test activities (completed on a smartphone or tablet) use augmented reality (AR) to simulate real-world activities of daily living, enabling changes in cognition and function to be captured earlier and more accurately than existing methods. The platform has received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation.
“Altoida’s platform is the first to use augmented reality as the framework to simulate activities of daily living, and to leverage AI to develop scientifically-validated neurological disease diagnostics,” said Travis Bond, CEO of Altoida. “We are pleased to have new investors join Altoida and to have our existing investors continue their support. Having both biotech and tech industry investors with complementary acumen, networks, and commitment to innovation in neurology will help enable us to bring our products to patients, providers, and researchers earlier. Our unique team of experts across neurology, machine learning, and digital biomarker science position us well to execute on our vision to deliver early and accurate brain health measurements and diagnostics to individuals across the world.”
“At M Ventures, we seed, support, and build transformational technologies that can significantly improve patient lives. There is a tremendously high unmet need for faster and more accurate methods to detect cognitive changes and diagnose diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. Altoida is the leading company developing such digital cognitive assessment technologies and we continue to be excited about its technology platform and its potential to measure brain health in a more precise and convenient manner,” said Therese Maria Liechtenstein, PhD, Investment Director at M Ventures. “We welcome Whitecap Venture Partners to the Series A, which we initially led in 2019, expanding Altoida’s syndicate and network with a trusted partner.”
“Altoida is pioneering a new category of precision neurology, and we’re thrilled to co-lead this round,” said Shayn Diamond, Partner at Whitecap Venture Partners. “The combination of augmented reality and AI has the potential to improve standard of care and democratize digital cognitive assessment at scale, and Altoida’s platform and team are at the cutting-edge of these two technologies.”
About Altoida, Inc.
Altoida is pioneering precision neurology diagnostics to set a new gold standard for patient care. Our innovative AI-driven approach combines novel digital biomarkers with immersive augmented reality to evaluate cognition. The result is our validated device and evidence-based platform with more than 20 years of scientific research. Altoida is based in Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.altoida.com or follow @Altoida on Twitter.
About M Ventures
M Ventures is the strategic, corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. From its headquarters in the Netherlands and offices in Germany, USA and Israel, M Ventures invests globally in transformational ideas driven by innovative entrepreneurs. Taking an active role in its portfolio companies, M Ventures teams up with management teams and co-investors to translate scientific discoveries into commercial success. M Ventures focuses on identifying and financing novel solutions to some of the most difficult challenges, through company creation and equity investments in fields that will impact the vitality and sustainability of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany ’s current and future businesses. For more information, visit www.m-ventures.com.
About Whitecap Venture Partners
Whitecap Venture Partners is a Toronto based early stage venture capital firm investing in high growth companies across B2B Software and MedTech. With a track record spanning almost three decades, its team of operators and investment professionals partner with entrepreneurs in verticals where they have deep domain expertise and can bring significant operational and strategic value to companies. Whitecap is investing out of their fifth fund, a $140M fund raised in 2021. Additional information is available at www.whitecapvp.com.
