Nanox nets $20M while setting up global distribution deals for its digital X-ray bed

Nanox, developer of a "Star Trek"-inspired digital X-ray bed, has raised an additional $20 million from South Korea’s SK Telecom after netting $26 million earlier this year from Taiwanese electronics multinational Foxconn.

The investments come during a steady beat of international distribution agreements for thousands of systems spanning Asia, Oceania, the U.S. and Europe inked since the top of the year. 

Alongside the new funding from SK Telecom, which previously invested $5 million in the effort, Nanox will aim to deploy 2,500 systems in South Korea and Vietnam pending regulatory clearances, linked to the company’s screening-as-a-service business model. This is slated to include 2D X-rays and 3D CT scans on a pay-per-scan basis.

Additionally, Nanox plans to establish a wholly owned Korean subsidiary focused on scaling up production of the device’s X-ray source and semiconductors.

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At the same time, the company signed an exclusive, four-year distribution deal with Promedica Bioelectronics to bring its system to Italy, including 500 scanners—again, pending regulatory clearances—and Nanox’s cloud-based imaging platform.

"Italy has become a prime target for us after the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Nanox founder and CEO Ran Poliakine. “The agreement with Promedica will enable us to help the Italian people in such eventualities with capabilities of high-volume screening across the country. We want medical imaging to become an obvious and available service such as water or electricity, readily accessible to all communities everywhere.”

Earlier this year, Nanox set up distribution agreements with The Gateway Group, for 1,000 systems across Australia, New Zealand and Norway, and USARad to help bring 3,000 scanners to the U.S.

Backed by Siemens Healthineers, USARad will offer its radiology marketplace platform and help recruit radiologists as service providers, aimed at free-standing imaging centers, urgent care clinics and retail locations.

Gateway, meanwhile, agreed to guarantee a minimum service fee of $58 million per year for three years to Nanox, with the goal of offering advanced imaging services at remote and rural locations.