Kestra Medical: Wearable Cardioverter Defibrillator Company Closes $196 Million In Funding

By Amit Chowdhry • Jul 28, 2024

Kestra Medical Technologies (a privately held wearable medical device and digital healthcare company) announced an oversubscribed $196 million funding round to support the expansion of their commercial organization and advance its goals of protecting at-risk patients with its modern Wearable Cardioverter Defibrillator (WCD).

This funding round was co-led by Andera Partners, Ally Bridge Group, Longitude Capital and Omega Funds with participation from new investors, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Eventide Asset Management and Gilmartin Capital. And the long-term investors Bain Capital and Endeavour Vision also participated with significant contributions.

This ASSURE system represents the next generation of cardiac monitoring and defibrillation therapy. Along with providing autonomous detection and defibrillation for ventricular arrhythmias, it can also detect and record other clinically significant arrhythmias which may require clinical intervention. And Kestra offers the only option designed specifically to meet the under-served needs of female cardiac patients. The ASSURE system has established reimbursement and broad insurance coverage in the U.S.

With 4 channels of ECG, an advanced algorithm, and adaptive patient intelligence, the ASSURE WCD reduces noise and ensures clear data and insights. And ASSURE is the only WCD system that offers additional support by sending an alert via the ASSURE patient application to an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) operator after a defibrillation shock.

The complete Cardiac Recovery System includes the ASSURE WCD, which is the recently FDA-cleared ASSURE Wearable ECG, the ASSURE patient app, ASSURE Assist Services and the Kestra CareStation remote patient data platform. Plus, all components of the system work together to provide comfortable protection for patients, improved compliance, and clear insights for healthcare providers.

In connection with the funding, Kevin Reilly from Ally Bridge Group, Maxwell Bikoff from Longitude Capital, and Francesco Draetta from Omega Funds will join the Kestra Board of Directors.

BofA Securities acted as sole placement agent for this transaction.

KEY QUOTES:

“This oversubscribed financing is validation of the excitement and confidence that new and existing investors have for Kestra and our ASSURE cardiac recovery system which has been prescribed to well over 10,000 patients to date. With this funding, our team is ready to aggressively compete and accelerate our commercialization initiatives to transform the WCD market with our clinically proven system.”

  • Brian Webster, President & CEO of Kestra Medical Technologies

“We are impressed with the clinical performance of the Kestra technology, their patient-focused approach and moreover, the exciting opportunity to penetrate this large and growing patient population. We are keen to partner with Kestra and their passionate team as they work to disrupt the existing $1 billion WCD market.”

  • Aneta Sottil, Partner at Andera Partners

“We are proud to continue our long-time support of Kestra and its people-driven mission to protect patients with technologies that are intuitive, intelligent, and mobile. We welcome the support of the new investors and look forward to continuing to back Brian and his strong team as they continue to deliver lifesaving products and services that make a difference in patients’ lives.”

  • Chris Gordon, a Partner at Bain Capital