US-based respiratory medicine developer Propeller Health closed a $21.5m series C round on Thursday from investors including manufactured goods conglomerate 3M and pharmaceutical firms GlaxoSmithKline and Hikma.
The corporates, which invested through their respective corporate venturing untis, 3M Ventures, SR One and Hikma Ventures, participated alongside investment firm Safeguard Scientifics and venture capital firm Social Capital.
Founded in 2010, Propeller Health is working on a digital therapy platform for patients suffering from chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It relies on machine learning to recommend a personalised treatment.
The cash will help the company continue development of its platform. The funding follows a $14.5m series B round led by Safeguard Scientifics in September 2014 that also featured Social Capital.
Propeller also secured a strategic investment from Well Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of pharmacy retail chain Walgreens, in June 2014, though details of the deal remain undisclosed.
California Healthcare Foundation supplied $1m in funding in June 2013, following Social Capital’s $5m series A investment in April 2013, when the company was still known as Asthmapolis. Kapor Capital and XlerateHealth provided an undisclosed amount in seed funding in 2011.
Rajeev Dadoo, partner at SR One, said: “Propeller is bringing a smarter, digitally-guided approach to the management of respiratory disease, an area of significant economic burden to healthcare systems.
“The company uniquely combines unprecedented real world evidence about how patients take their medications, with a deep understanding of what people want from their respiratory treatment.
“Propeller routinely demonstrates consistent and measurable results in patient satisfaction, clinical improvement and cost savings across diverse program, payer and patient types.”