Heru Series A Funding Accelerates Cloud and AI-Enabled Wearable Vision Diagnosis and Therapy
Heru, developer of wearable AI-powered vision diagnostics and augmentation software, closed its Series A financing of $30 million to advance the company’s eye diagnostic and vision correction technology platform.
Originating as a spinout from Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, the Series A follows FDA registration and a $2.7 million seed round announced in December 2020.
An estimated 450 million people worldwide experience visual field defects or double vision, but limited access can mean long waits for eye appointments. Heru’s next-generation solution helps ensure that patients’ vision can be tested earlier so that diagnosed defects can be treated in a timely manner.
“This technology has the potential to fundamentally transform eye care,” said James Rogers of D1 Capital Partners, which led the Series A funding. “Heru’s technology is designed to reduce the burden on the practitioner, increase billing opportunities and expand the point of care beyond the traditional eye care practice.”
This financing round will advance the development of the company’s Heru RE: eye diagnostic and vision correction (augmentation) technology platform. Registered with the FDA, the Heru platform is designed to diagnose a wide range of diseases without the need for large capital equipment investment and dedicated exam rooms. The platform is designed to include a novel diagnostic technology capable of automatically detecting disease and supporting greater diagnostic care for eye care physicians.
“Combined with Heru AI and the power of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute’s dozens of patents, it is now possible to streamline diagnostic care as part of a comprehensive exam strategy through a wearable device,” said Heru founder and CEO, Mohamed Abou Shousha, MD, PhD.
Heru holds 24 patents on vision augmentation and wearable diagnostics to date. Their patented diagnostics software is registered with the FDA as a Class I exempt device.
The company continues to work in collaboration with developers of next-generation augmented reality (AR) headsets and is compatible with off-the-shelf AR/VR headsets, including Microsoft and Magic Leap devices, and is developing vision augmentation software that is designed to correct the user’s vision defects in real time using AI.
The Series A funding round was led by global investment firm D1 Capital Partners with participation from SoftBank Ventures Opportunity Fund, Maurice R. Ferre, MD, Frederic H. Moll, MD, Krillion Ventures, and a consortium of investors with extensive experience developing, launching and scaling cutting-edge medical technologies.