附近上门

Tokyo-based , which is developing endoscopic software powered by artificial intelligence, announced today that it has raised $42.9 million in a Series B round.

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闯补辫补苍鈥檚 , (WiL) out of Palo Alto and by IGV (Innovation Growth Ventures), and others participated in the financing. Combined with the company鈥檚 last raise of $9 million in August 2018, AI Medical Service has now brought in about $57 million in venture funding since its inception in September 2017.

In its own words, the company 鈥渄evelops AI technology that brings together the wisdom of Japanese endoscopic specialists and supports endoscopic examinations of gastrointestinal organs, such as the esophagus, stomach, small intestine and large intestine.鈥� Its goal is to more quickly and efficiently diagnose gastric cancer.

Early diagnosis of gastric cancer is very difficult since the symptoms are often similar to gastritis, said Dr. , CEO of AI Medical Services.

鈥淎s a result, the false negative rate is estimated to be 15 percent to 30 percent,鈥� he added. 鈥淥ur solution is backed up by AI-trained analyses of real-time endoscopy images to support doctors in detecting lesions that are difficult to find by the naked eye.鈥�

The 66-person company said it plans to use the new capital to promote its clinical trials, do some hiring, and further its development pipeline, as well as invest in equipment and an overseas expansion. Like any other medical technology company, AI Medical鈥檚 end goal is to get regulatory approval and — wouldn鈥檛 this be wonderful — 鈥渢o save millions of people around the world鈥� after launching its product. Its plan as of now is to launch it in 2021.

Since the company鈥檚 initial product is focused on gastric cancer, the company plans to target other Asian nations first, such as Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia, where it says 鈥渟tomach cancer prevalence is very high, and as many as 600,000 patients are dying of it every year.鈥�

鈥淲e are also currently looking at opportunities in the U..S and Canadian markets, where the number of Asian immigrants has increased to nearly a quarter of the total population,鈥� Tada said.

, general partner of WiL, said in a statement that the endoscopy field is facing many challenges including 鈥渓ong hours required for analysis and a shortage of human resources.鈥�

To address that, AI Medical Service partners with about 92 medical institutions in Japan and has built up a library that includes a large number of endoscopic images and thesis data.

鈥淚 believe AI Medical Service will be one of the world-leading companies, given the high barriers to entry into the market in which there are few players,鈥� Matsumoto said.

, chief investment officer with the Sony Innovation Fund by IGV, said the fund was particularly impressed by the company鈥檚 鈥渆xceptional software engineering鈥� and 鈥渁uthoritative鈥� doctors with backgrounds in endoscopies.

鈥淎t IGV, we invest in startups in areas such as AI and robotics, who are transforming high growth industries including healthcare and medical,鈥� he wrote via email. 鈥淲e see tremendous potential in companies using AI, such as AI Medical Services, in greatly improving medical procedures and the healthcare/medical industry as a whole.鈥�

The investment marks the third to date out of Sony鈥檚 Innovation Growth Fund, a joint fund that recently launched in partnership with . It also marks the first health/medical tech investment by IGV. Sony Innovation Fund, however, has made several investments in the health/medical tech space from its first fund including and in the US, along with , , and in Japan.

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