Stroke-spotting software maker Viz.ai raises $71M to expand clinical reach

Stroke-spotting software developer Viz.ai has raised $71 million to help expand its artificial intelligence programs into other acute care areas—including cardiovascular, pulmonary and trauma care—amid plans to take its business to new global markets. 

The company’s Viz LVO system works with CT scanners from multiple manufacturers to automatically scan brain images for signs of stroke and notify neurovascular specialists using  a mobile platform.

In a real-world study across 139 hospitals, the system delivered a median time-to-notification of less than six minutes, with 96% sensitivity and 94% specificity at detecting large vessel occlusions, according to the company.

“The investment will allow us to expedite our effort to bring the power of artificial intelligence and advanced mobile technology to prevent care breakdowns, improve patient outcomes and experience, and improve economics across the entire health system both in the United States and Europe,” said Viz.ai co-founder and CEO Chris Mansi, M.D.

RELATED: Medtronic to distribute Viz.ai's stroke-spotting AI imaging software

The series C round was co-led by Scale Venture Partners and Insight Partners with additional backing from Greenoaks, Kleiner Perkins, Threshold Ventures, CRV, Innovation Endeavors and Susa Ventures.

“We see the company poised for massive growth as it scales its clinically-verified stroke care coordination system to other use cases where time is crucial to outcomes and costs to patients and hospitals can exponentially increase when care coordination breaks down,” said Nikhil Sachdev, managing director of Insight Partners. “We are looking forward to rolling up our sleeves and helping Viz.ai scale up.”

In addition, Viz.ai recently presented new data on the use of its software in acute ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke and clinical trial recruitment. The studies showed a 45% average reduction in total treatment times at primary stroke centers as well as the ability to shave an average of 86.7 minutes from each procedure at comprehensive stroke centers.