Dive Brief:
- London-based health tech startup Medopad is expanding across the pond with the purchase of Silicon Valley data firm Sherbit for an undisclosed sum.
- Founded in 2011, Medopad leverages artificial intelligence to help hospitals and patients track long-term medical conditions. Sherbit, founded in October 2016, works with health systems on chronic disease management using real-time data and actionable insights.
- With the acquisition of Sherbit, Medopad will bring its technology to bear on disease detection at academic health centers in the U.S.
Dive Insight:
Healthcare is warming up to AI, and while Google DeepMind and Watson Health are already starting to impact diagnosis and clinical care, disease detection is a use area with huge potential for growth.
KPMG named Medopad a $1 billion unicorn in 2016. The company has projects in Asia and Europe, offices in Singapore and Munich, Germany, and has partnered with Apple, Chinese tech giant Tencent, Johnson & Johnson, Boston Scientific and Pfizer. The company raised $28 million in a Series A funding round in February, bringing total investments to $32 million.
Harvard Medical School-backed Sherbit has also worked with some big names in healthcare, including Mayo Clinic, Tufts Medical Center and Jefferson Health in Philadelphia. In a seven-week pilot at Tufts, Sherbit's guided remote monitoring improved medication adherence, blood pressure and hemoglobin levels in patients with Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.
"Through this acquisition, Medopad will provide its technology to support solutions across different disease areas from rare diseases to chronic conditions," the company's CEO and founder Dan Vahdat said in a statement. Sherbit CEO Alex Senemar added, "We’re excited to leverage Medopad's technology, clinical, and predictive analytics capabilities to expand what’s possible for our companies."
