Snap40, a Scottish startup with the mission to protect the health of every human being, announced it has raised $8 million in seed funding. The round is led by ADV, with participation from MMC Ventures, and brings total funding to $10 million.
snap40 developed an AI-enabled wearable device to help health professionals monitor patients either on the hospital ward or at home.
Originally launched as a clinical pilot in August 2016, snap40 offers a complete, automated picture of human health. Using a wearable device, the company monitors people during and after hospital admissions, as well as for chronic health conditions and in clinical trials.
The device claims to have the same accuracy as ICU monitoring. It captures oxygen saturation, respiration rate, pulse rate, temperature, movement and posture.
The Snap40 platform can be integrated with other devices such as a BP cuff, weighing scales, a glucose monitor. It then sends this real-time data to the cloud where it is analyzed by the company’s proprietary algorithms to identify if a patient’s health is at risk and alert a physician proactively.
snap40’s HIPAA-compliant and secure mobile technology is designed to ease the stress and risks doctors and nurses face when administering care, eliminating the manual approaches that hinder them. For patients, the device monitors vital signs and other data to determine which patients will become ill and how, enabling earlier medical intervention and fewer hospital readmissions. Today, this costs U.S. hospitals more than $40 billion, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) estimates.
“With our society growing older and larger, in the coming years we will see AI fundamentally reshape how healthcare is delivered,” said David Kelnar, partner and head of research at MMC Ventures. “snap40 is an excellent example of how AI is moving ‘beyond the hype’ – the company’s robust application of AI is solving an important real-world problem, augmenting the efforts of healthcare staff and helping save lives. We’re excited to support Chris, Stewart and the rest of the team as the business expands and brings their technology to new markets.”
Edinburgh, Scotland-based snap40 has an office in New York as well. The company plans to more than double its headcount by the end of 2018, hiring in all areas with a focus on candidates who believe in using technology to save lives and improve healthcare.
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Christopher McCann, snap40 CEO and co-founder, said, “As a medical student, I witnessed patients live with long-term disability or die as a result of late recognition of their deteriorating health. This is where technology can make a difference. It’s a moral imperative to use all of our knowledge in science and technology to improve healthcare – that’s why Stewart and I founded snap40. Using AI to recognize illness earlier and enable earlier treatment can save lives, and it can prepare our healthcare system for the future.”
