As investors support companies that are lowering the cost and complexity of medical devices, a new round of funding is supporting a company developing a handheld ultrasound device built using nanoscale piezoelectric materials with semiconductor capabilities along with plans for a layer of artificial intelligence and computational photography algorithms. Exo, founded in 2015 by Janusz Bryzek and Yusuf Haque, has raised $40 million in Series funding led by Fiscus Ventures, Reimagined Ventures (both affiliates of Magnetar Capital) and Action Potential Ventures (the corporate venture arm of GlaxoSmithKline focused on bioelectronic technologies), as well as TDK Ventures and Solasta Ventures, according to a press release.
Exo’s platform technology can drive true adoption of point-of-care imaging in emergency rooms and critical care units, facilitate advanced surgical robotics and endoscopic procedures, and enable therapeutic modalities in non-invasive neuromodulation and drug delivery. The company’s patented piezoelectric micromachined ultrasound transducer improves image quality while a companion software toolkit expands the product’s diagnostic capabilities.
The company also has a workflow platform called Exo Works that streamlines exam review, documentation and billing in under one minute. This solution works with nearly all point-of-care ultrasound devices and can be integrated into existing healthcare workflows, according to the firm.
The company’s team has experience from consumer tech giants like Apple and Google as well as top medical device firms including GE, Johnson & Johnson, Maxim, Medtronic and Siemens. It has also received a number of patents related to its platform and technology. It aims to use its AI-powered technology to help physicians at the point of care triage, diagnose and treat patients in an increasingly complex and challenging world. It believes that the healthcare system of the future will be centered around people, not walls.