US-based handheld ultrasound device maker Butterfly Network raised $250m in a series D round featuring pharmaceutical company Fosun Pharma yesterday, VentureBeat reported.
The round was led by financial services and investment group Fidelity and also included philanthropic organization Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, private investor Jamie Dinan and unnamed existing backers. It valued Butterfly at $1.25bn according to Forbes.
Butterfly Network has developed a handheld 3D ultrasound scanner called iQ (pictured) that is the size of an electric razor and costs $2,000, considerably less than current alternatives which can retail for up to $20,000.
Scans taken by the system’s probe are uploaded to an encrypted cloud storage platform and can be shared securely.
The company has developed a smartphone app to go along with the scanner that relies on artificial intelligence and computer vision to detect the probe’s location in real time, directing physicians to where the device needs to go.
Butterfly has not specified what it intends to do with the funding, though it began shipping the device this week. The company is targeting sales of more than 250,000 units within 18 months and has also started work on additional products.
The company emerged from stealth with $100m in funding from co-founder Jonathan Rothberg and private equity fund Aeris Capital in 2014. The company has not disclosed any other funding.
– Image courtesy of Butterfly Network
