Coralville-based IDx has raised $33 million in a Series A financing round.
The funding round was led by 8VC with participation from Optum Ventures, Alpha Edison and Heritage Provider Network.
The company says the funding will be used to accelerate market adoption of IDx-DR, it’s AI diagnostic system.
In April, IDx-DR received approval from the FDA to detect diabetic retinopathy – and to further develop additional diagnostic systems for its AI platform.
Two months later in June, IDx-DR was initiated into clinical practice at University of Iowa Health Care, marking the first time patients have received a medical diagnosis from an autonomous AI system in the United States.
“We received numerous requests from the investment community to participate in this financing round,” said Stefan D. Abrams, vice chairman at IDx. “We carefully selected our co-investors because of the strategic value they provide to the company. We expect this investment to accelerate the adoption of IDx-DR, a unique and much-needed solution for the 30 million people with diabetes in the U.S. alone who need to be tested for diabetic retinopathy each year.”
“Some of the biggest companies in the world are trying to implement AI in healthcare, but IDx is leading the way in real-world execution,” said Drew Oetting, founding partner at 8VC in the press release. “The company leveraged Iowa’s ophthalmology expertise to develop a clinically-inspired AI – not a black box. This innovative, biomarker-based approach has separated IDx from the hype, allowing them to become the first to introduce autonomous AI-based technologies to healthcare.”
Clay & Milk has reached out IDx for more information about the investment round and will update this post with more details when we hear back.