Aktiia announced today that it raised an oversubscribed $42 million Series B funding round and introduced its new “Hilo” brand identity. Earlybird Health and Wellington Partners co-led the funding round with new investors Kfund and naturalX Health Ventures joining. Existing investors redalpine, Khosla Ventures, Molten Ventures, Translink Capital and Verve Ventures participated, too.
The investment — which brings the company’s total financing to more than $100 million to date — could help accelerate its blood pressure management technology.
Related: Voom Medical Devices announces $30M debt and equity financing
Aktiia says its funding round adds to recent momentum, with CE mark recently secured for mobile phone camera blood pressure monitoring technology. The platform also has approval in Canada, Australia and Saudi Arabia, according to a news release. Additionally, the company completed a pivotal clinical trial ahead an FDA submission in the U.S. (Aktiia or Hilo do not presently come up on the American Medical Association’s database of validated blood pressure monitors.)
The company earmarked the latest funding round to fuel continued product innovation. It also plans to use funds to expand into new markets and build out its blood pressure intelligence platform to support enterprise use cases.
“This funding round is a testament to the confidence our investors have in Hilo’s groundbreaking technology and our mission to manage the world’s blood pressure via more frequent, convenient and accurate measurements,” said Raghav “Rags” Gupta, Aktiia/Hilo CEO. “With billions worldwide suffering from hypertension, only 20% of whom are in control of their blood pressure, the need for innovative, accessible blood pressure monitoring solutions has never been greater.”
The company, founded in 2018, integrates AI algorithms with extensive datasets to deliver cuffless blood pressure monitoring (CBPM) products that use optical sensors to gather photoplethysmographic (PPG) signals from the arteries in the wrist. The company built its foundational model for blood pressure on billions of optical signals and hundreds of millions of readings.
The system requires comparison with an electronic upper arm cuff (provided with the product) for monthly accuracy calibration.
The company has its headquarters in Switzerland and continues to expand its global presence. It says it wants to transform how blood pressure is understood and managed.
With the rebrand to Hilo, the company says it aims to reflect its global ambition to make cuffless, clinically validated blood pressure monitoring universally accessible and effortless. It says transitioning to Hilo marks an important milestone in its journey as it continues to deliver its trusted blood pressure monitoring technology.
Hilo has already sold more than 120,000 devices, according to a news release and considers itself a leader in the emerging CBPM category.
Our rebrand to Hilo represents more than just a name change, it’s a commitment to empowering users around the world with smarter tools to optimise their health. We are grateful to early Aktiia customers for their support and to our investors, new and existing, for their faith.”
