Healthy.io, which has developed a self-administered home urine test for diagnosing kidney disease that is analyzed using a smartphone, has raised $18 million in series B funding. The funding round was led by Aleph, with participation by Samsung NEXT and private investors.
Healthy.io, was chosen as one of the most promising startups of 2018 in Israel by "Globes". It says that "the funding will help scale the company's home testing service based on its FDA-cleared smartphone urinalysis test-kit, aimed at sparing millions from the enormous burden of kidney disease complications while cutting costs for the overstrained medical system."
Healthy.io's product is approved for sale in Europe and the US, and is one of the first products of its kind to receive these approvals. In the past few years the company has mainly operated in the UK with the National Health Service, and sold two types of test: one for detecting urinary tract infections, marketed via the NHS and pharmacies, and a test for detecting protein in the urine indicating deterioration of the kidneys in diabetes patients.
The company says that its testing service has been assessed with Geisinger Health in conjunction with the US National Kidney Foundation, achieving a 71% adherence rate amongst patients with hypertension who have never been tested before.
"We are reinventing existing paradigms of prevention," said Healthy.io founder and CEO Yonatan Adiri. "Instead of spending money and other resources to get people to come to the lab, we offer providers a full home-based service. With our 'pay per protein' model, we only get paid based on tangible cost improvements we deliver by detecting elevated protein in urine - which identifies previously undetected Chronic Kidney Disease."
Healthy.io was founded in 2014 and has about 50 employees. Its first funding round, in 2017, was led by Idan Ofer's Quantum Pacific Ventures.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 5, 2019
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