After reversing course on a SPAC deal last year, cardiac diagnostic developer HeartFlow has picked up what could hardly be considered a consolation prize.
The company closed $215 million in new venture capital funding led by Bain Capital Life Sciences. They were joined by newcomer Janus Henderson Investors plus previous backers including Baillie Gifford, Capricorn Investment Group, Hayfin Capital Management, HealthCor, Martis Capital, USVP and Wellington Management.
The proceeds—marking the company’s second nine-figure fundraising—aim to help HeartFlow capitalize on its recent achievements, including an FDA clearance late last year for artificial-intelligence-powered software that maps out the heart’s coronary arteries and any potential blockages through a 3D CT scan.
Coronary computed tomography angiography, or CCTA, along with FFR-CT, or fractional flow reserve via CT—for spotting slow trickles of blood among the heart’s arteries—were both added to clinical guidelines for diagnosing chest pain published by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology in 2021.
Late last year, HeartFlow presented a study at the AHA’s Scientific Sessions meeting showing its noninvasive CCTA and FFR-CT could outperform traditional heart diagnostics, including stress tests and measuring blood pressure within the coronary arteries with a threaded catheter.
“The oversubscription of our series F funding round, particularly in the current market backdrop, is a strong validation of our technology, our team and the opportunity in front of us,” HeartFlow CEO John Farquhar said in a release, adding that the company’s systems have already been used in over 725 hospital systems and more than 180,000 patient scans.
Farquhar was elevated to his position as CEO in March 2022, after joining the company as chief operating officer the previous August. He previously served as general manager of Medtronic’s aortic devices business. HeartFlow’s former CEO, John Stevens, was named vice chair of the board of directors.
The switch came shortly after HeartFlow halted plans to go public in February 2022. The company had pitched a $2.8 billion deal through a blank-check company sponsored by Glenview Capital Management, but cited “unfavorable market conditions” as a bevy of SPAC deals began to fall through following their peak in popularity in the year before.
The company previously raised $240 million during its last VC round in 2018, which pushed its valuation at the time up to $1.5 billion.