Semiconductor and telecom corporation Qualcomm made an investment in US-based mobile technology developer AirStrip Technologies on Thursday through its Qualcomm Life Fund. The funding was provided as part of a strategic partnership between the two firms.
The fund was launched through Qualcomm’s corporate venturing unit in order to finance small companies able to help accelerate the development of wireless health technology in healthcare. The same technology is used by Qualcomm in its 2net Platform, which can transfer data between mobile devices and medical devices which carry the 2net cellular component.
AirStrip’s technology grants clinicians secure access to patient monitoring data from bedside monitors, devices, the laboratory and other clinical information systems through smartphones or tablets. The two firms are also collaborating on an initiative centred around home care for congestive heart failure patients, after they have been discharged.
Jack Young, senior manager at Qualcomm Ventures, said: "Smartphone adoption by physicians is amongst the highest in any given profession. Airstrip Technologies’ solutions can increase efficiency in a resource-constrained healthcare system, improving patient care and communications while reducing medical errors. As the demand for home monitoring and wireless health solutions increases, Airstrip Technologies and Qualcomm Life are well positioned to help customers and patients address this need."
AirStrip had previously raised $30m in a 2010 series B round financed by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital.