iRhythm, a Stanford University spin out medical device firm, has raised $16m in a series D round led by Norwest Venture Partners (NVP).
The US-based startup, which was spun out of Stanford’s biodesign programme, also attracted return investment in the round from existing backers, including New Leaf Ventures, Synergy Life Science Partners, and Kaiser Permanente Ventures. As part of the deal, Casper de Clercq, partner at NVP, will join iRhythm’s board of directors.
The firm has raised $52m since it was founded in 2006, including a $6.5m series B in 2009 that Stanford took part in.
The San Francisco-based iRhythm plans to use the latest round of funding to expand commercial efforts and accelerate development of new products. The company’s current flagship product is the Zio System, which assists with the diagnosis and monitoring of cardiac arrhythmias.
Kevin King, president and chief executive of iRhythm said: “We are pleased to have NVP as our lead investor in this important growth phase of the company. Since the introduction of the Zio System in early 2011, we have reported on over 20 million hours of patient data. Recent peer review data has demonstrated that the Zio Patch System is helping physicians to make more informed patient treatment decisions over the gold standard method of Holter Monitoring. NVP’s interest in partnering with companies focused on products that address an unmet clinical need aligns with iRhythm’s own mission.”