OurCrowd, a global leader in equity crowdfunding, today announced that it will invest $2.5 million (as part of a recently completed $7 million investment round) in Scopio Labs, a developer of an advanced digital microscopy and diagnostics platform. This is OurCrowd’s 23rd healthtech investment for a total of $80 million, making OurCrowd the world’s leading equity crowdfunding platform for healthcare investments.
OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved said, “We are excited by our latest investment in Scopio Labs, which is bringing about a revolution in digital microscopy. Scopio Labs joins our portfolio of 23 cutting edge disruptive healthcare technology companies, all of which impact positively the lives of millions of people and are transforming patient care.”
Scopio Labs, founded in 2015 by Itai Hayut and Erez Na’aman, develops next-generation digital microscopes, based on computational imaging breakthroughs, as well as a suite of dedicated image analysis tools. Their products enable dramatic clinical and research improvements in diverse areas such as cancer, hematology and cytology, while powering further innovation in areas such as academic research and drug discovery. The company will use the funds to expand the team based in Tel Aviv, and is hiring computer vision experts, physicists and software developers.
Itai Hayut, co-founder and CEO of Scopio Labs, said, “We look forward to working with OurCrowd’s healthcare team and their thousands of investors. We hope to gain from OurCrowd’s growing network of committed partners around the globe to add significant value to our business and help us pioneer the next generation of digital microscopy applications.”
OurCrowd has now invested in 22 health companies to date and one fund (see Appendix for full list). OurCrowd partners and co-invests with world leaders in medtech, digital health, biomed, consumer and enterprise software. OurCrowd’s portfolio companies are revolutionizing the health sciences through use of disruptive technology, utilizing machine learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics and big data analytics.
In November 2016, OurCrowd launched Israel’s first exclusive digital health fund, OurCrowd Qure, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, dedicated to one of the fastest growing sectors in terms of funding and M&A activity.
“We are on a mission to teach computers to read and diagnose medical images. We see a world where each and every one of us, regardless of location or income, has access to fast, accurate, high quality care, at a fraction of the current cost,” says Elad Benjamin, co-founder and CEO of Zebra Medical Vision, which was recently named one of the top 5 Artificial Intelligence Companies by Fast Company. “Our algorithms are available to medical staff in hospitals and end users that now can access insights from their scans without leaving their home.”
“It’s an exciting time, as innovations in healthtech are merging with developments in other disciplines,” says Dor Skuler, CEO and Co-Founder of Intuition Robotics. “For instance, Intuition Robotics is using a mix of robotics, cognitive computing, gerontology, and industrial design to develop the social companion technology that’s behind our active ageing companion, ElliQ.”
OurCrowd is a co-organizer of MIXiii Biomed 2017, the leading event in Israel’s life science industry, which brings together thousands of healthcare industry professionals from around the world to scope out Israeli and global biomed technologies. Taking place in Tel Aviv from May 23-25, 2017, the event will feature a number of OurCrowd senior professionals, as well as OurCrowd portfolio companies.
For press materials: http://blog.ourcrowd.com/healthtech22
Notes to the editors:
Speakers at MIXiii Biomed 2017 include:
- Allen Kamer, Managing Partner of OurCrowd Qure, Israel’s first digital health fund, who will appear on the main stage panel: “Technology and The Elderly People”
- Elad Benjamin, CEO of Zebra Medical Vision, who will speak on “Early detection of Osteoporosis”
- Dor Skuler, CEO of Intuition Robotics, who will speak on how the company’s social companion technology can positively impact the lives of older adults
- Dr. Son Preminger, Founder & CEO of Intendu, who will speak on “Active Brain and Body in Ageing”
- Dr. Amit Goffer, CEO, UPnRIDE Robotics who will speak on “Robotics’ Role in Ageing”
Source: http://www.pharmiweb.com/pressreleases/pressrel.asp?ROW_ID=221711#.WS03JWiGOUm
