Hear that? Smart stethoscope maker Eko Health just raised $41 million in new backing to help expand its commercial reach in the U.S. and overseas.
The company’s series D round follows up on an FDA clearance in April that unlocked its artificial intelligence program for capturing cases of low cardiac ejection fraction, a key indicator of developing heart failure.
With previous regulatory green lights for detecting structural heart murmurs and atrial fibrillation via ECG sensors—alongside core sound amplification and noise cancelation features—Eko has been working to update the humble stethoscope as a connected medical device that can identify the subtle patterns of heart and lung disease.
“Just as Ring transformed doorbells into home security systems, Eko has reinvented the world’s most ubiquitous medical tool into a powerful early disease detection platform, creating the world’s largest install base of professional AI-enabled cardiology devices,” Eko co-founder CEO Connor Landgraf said in the company’s announcement.
The new fundraising—which brings the company’s lifetime total to $165 million—was joined by ARTIS Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, NTTVC and Questa Capital. Meanwhile, strategic investments came from Double Point Ventures in the U.S. and the corporate investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board, EDBI, as well as from LG Technology Ventures in South Korea.
“Eko has spent the past decade building an unparalleled dataset of digital heart and lung sounds, which it leverages to develop clinical AI for the physical world,” said Vas Bailey, ARTIS Ventures partner and chair of Eko’s board. “Like countless others, I lost a parent much too early to undetected heart disease. I am deeply inspired by the team's dedication to saving lives by equipping hundreds of thousands—and soon millions—of clinicians worldwide with our groundbreaking early detection platform.”
Late last year, Eko showed off clinical data showing its AI programs could improve the detection rates for heart murmurs, which can be traced to faulty cardiac valves. Compared to standard stethoscopes, the company’s digital auscultation delivered 94% sensitivity versus 41%.
In the study of 369 participants with no prior diagnoses, the AI spotted 22 patients with moderate-or-greater cases of valve disease that were overlooked with the typical exam. The company estimates that about half of all adults over age 65 have some form of valve dysfunction. The results were published in the journal Circulation and presented at the American Heart Association’s scientific sessions.