Originally published by MobiHealthNews on December 9, 2022
Remote patient monitoring company Alio scooped up $18 million in the first close of a Series C funding round.
The raise was led by the Widjaja Family Investment Office with participation from existing investors, including Chase Field LLC and Thomas Krebs, former treasurer of medical device company Penumbra.
Alio said the Series C brings its total amount the company has raised to more than $50 million. The startup last raised $20 million in Series B funds in 2021.
WHAT THEY DO
Alio offers a remote monitoring system for chronic conditions, currently focused on patients undergoing dialysis.
Earlier this year, the company announced the system had received FDA 510(k) clearance to collect physiological data — like skin temperature; auscultation, or internal body sounds; and heart rate — in the home.
According to the 510(k) summary, the system includes the SmartPatch wearable sensor, its Bedside Hub (which collects and uploads patch data), the Alio Medical Cloud that stores that information, and a clinician-facing portal.
Alio said it has completed another submission to the FDA to receive clearance to monitor hemoglobin, hematocrit and potassium. It expects a response in the first half of next year, and the company plans to launch the platform commercially if it receives the agency's green light.
Funds from the Series C round will go toward expanding Alio's remote patient monitoring tech and scaling operations.
"We made tremendous progress over this past year — we achieved a major regulatory milestone with our initial FDA clearance for our platform, completed our FDA submission to include potassium monitoring and formed a number of strategic partnerships, laying the groundwork for commercialization. With this strong foundation established, we have reached a critical point in our journey," Alio cofounder and CEO David Kuraguntla said in a statement.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
Remote patient monitoring use grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis of traditional Medicare claims published in JAMA Internal Medicine earlier this year. Though still small, the study's authors note more research could be done to determine where RPM could be most useful, like preventing hospital readmissions.
A number of companies are developing RPM technology. GE Healthcare recently partnered with AMC Health to offer remote patient monitoring technology to patients after they've been discharged from the hospital.
Another company in the RPM space is Biofourmis, which announced a $300 million Series D in April that boosted its valuation to $1.3 billion. In August, the company said it had added another $20 million to its Series D raise.