CardioSignal, the developers of an app that performs a heart test using some of the most basic smartphone features, has collected $10 million in early venture capital funding to validate its approach in the clinic.
CardioSignal’s software utilizes the motion data recorded by a smartphone’s accelerometers—the internal chips typically used to swap the screen from portrait to landscape mode, based on how you hold it, or to count a user’s steps.
But when users lie down and place the phone on their chests for one minute, CardioSignal’s software aims to pick up the subtle movements associated with a beating heart and to search for patterns associated with irregular rhythms or other conditions.
The startup calls it gyrocardiography, and it has set a goal of providing affordable disease detection without the need for specialized sensors or hardware.
“More than 20 million people die each year from cardiovascular diseases. This funding enables us to scale a detection and remote monitoring solution for primary care doctors and their patients,” Juuso Blomster, M.D., Ph.D., founder and CEO of CardioSignal, said in a statement.
“Currently, primary care has very limited tools to detect heart diseases, like heart failure patients who are often already experiencing symptoms. We can support the shift in cardiovascular care from treating complications to earlier detection and prevention,” added Blomster, a cardiologist by training.
The company’s series A funding round was led by DigiTx Partners and included backing from Sandwater and Maki.vc. To date, the company has raised $23 million.
“CardioSignal has the potential to meaningfully impact heart disease on a global basis. Besides the ability to detect various heart diseases, which continue to be one of the common causes of death, CardioSignal has lowered the barrier to the adoption of its technology by making it readily available to all individuals who have smartphones,” said David Kim, managing director of DigiTx, who joined CardioSignal’s board. “We can reach millions of at-risk patients and make a real impact.”