Caristo Diagnostics Limited – a global leader in cardiac and vascular disease diagnostics and risk prediction – announced it has secured a further £13 million (US$16.3 million) to conclude its Series A financing round. The funding was led by Oxford Science Enterprises and joined by BGF, Longwall Venture Partners, Oxford Investment Consultants LLP, Oxford University and other investors.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are known as the leading cause of death globally, taking a nearly estimated 18 million lives each year. And Caristo aims to change this statistic through the delivery of its state-of-the-art coronary disease diagnostic technology.
CaRi-Heart’s AI algorithms allow trained health professionals to obtain measures of coronary inflammation from routine cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA) scans by using Caristo’s Fat Attenuation Index (FAI) technology. And the resulting FAI Score measures the risk of cardiac mortality due to coronary inflammation. Plus CaRi-Heart provides a long-term cardiac mortality risk by integrating coronary inflammation with standard clinic risk factors and the presence of coronary plaques.
What the funding will be used for: Caristo will use the capital to advance its CaRi-Heart technology, an AI-assisted diagnostics, and risk prediction tool, into standards of cardiac care in major global markets.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are thrilled that five successful institutional investors participated in the financing round which validates the vast clinical and business potential of Caristo’s innovations. We are equally excited to welcome Frank Cheng as Caristo’s new CEO. Frank led multiple digital health companies during the last twenty years, and most recently was President & CCO of Eyenuk, Inc, a diagnostic company with autonomous AI technology that was FDA-cleared, Medicare-reimbursed, supported by a new Category 1 CPT code, and adopted in eighteen countries. With a portfolio of novel technologies, exceptional clinical results and an experienced management team, Caristo is well positioned to transform healthcare around the world.”
– Oran Muduroglu, Board Chairman of Caristo
“We invest in companies with the potential to revolutionize healthcare and become global category leaders and that is why we are proud to back the incredible team at Caristo. Caristo continues to make tremendous progress in the delivery of its innovative technology to help healthcare professionals predict and prevent future heart attacks and ultimately save millions of lives around the world. We are thrilled to continue being part of the company’s journey.”
– Heather Roxborough, Head of HealthTech at Oxford Science Enterprises and Caristo Board Member
“Caristo has been on an exciting journey since 2018 as the Company turned a scientific idea into a validated clinical offering, protected our intellectual property, published impressive results in leading peer-reviewed medical journals, and secured initial regulatory approvals. Our Series A fundraise will accelerate Caristo’s growth in our existing UK and EU markets, while we lay solid foundations for U.S. market entry.”
– Frank Cheng, Caristo CEO and Board Member
