US-based diagnostics imaging technology producer Vida Diagnostics has raised $11m of series C funding from investors including UnityPoint Health Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of healthcare provider UnityPoint Health.
The funding represents a first close of the round and it was led by venture capital firm First Analysis Corporation.
The round included Rural Vitality Fund, a vehicle established by trade body Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, as well as Blue Heron Capital, Next Level Ventures, Chartline Capital Partners, Rittenhouse Ventures, Iowa First Capital Fund and Angels Forum.
Founded in 2004 as a spinout from University of Iowa, Vida markets a lung diagnostics software platform called LungPrint Discovery which is currently approved for clinical use in the US, Canada, Australia and the European Economic Area.
The system relies on artificial intelligence to visualise radiology lung scans in 3D so that professional radiologists can scale back their workload and avoid burnout. The funding will go to product development as Vida looks to identify additional clinical use-cases for LungPrint.
The company secured $2.8m in equity funding and $500,000 in debt financing between 2007 and 2014 according to press reports and regulatory filings, $2m of which came from Next Level Ventures.
Vida closed a $5.1m series B round in 2016 that was led by Chartline Capital Partners that reportedly included Rural Vitality Fund, Iowa Seed Fund, Northern California Investment Fund, Next Level Ventures and Rittenhouse Ventures.
UnityPoint Health Ventures invested $1m in Vida in July 2019. It closed $2.2m in debt financing the following month, after media reports suggested the company had raised $500,000 in debt from state-owned investment vehicle Iowa Innovation Acceleration Fund.