Tyto Care has raised $25 million. The telehealth startup will use the money to grow U.S. sales of its FDA-approved digital stethoscope while working to enter the Chinese market.
The digital stethoscope is the centerpiece of three telehealth packages Tyto is pitching at consumers and healthcare organizations. Tyto’s packages feature devices that enable remote doctors to listen to a patient’s heart, lungs and abdomen, and see their ear canal, skin and throat. The patient can either send these files to their doctor or connect with them for a real-time remote video exam.
Tyto introduced its digital stethoscope last year and has since worked to establish relationships with U.S. healthcare organizations. The series B equips Tyto to build on this platform by committing more cash to its U.S. expansion.
China’s Ping An led the round with the support of Cambia Health Solutions, Walgreens, OrbiMed, Fosun Pharma and LionBird, the investors that drove Tyto to an $11 million series B round in 2015. Since the B round, Tyto has picked up 510(k) clearance for its digital stethoscope, dialing up its need for cash to fuel growth. Consumer and professional versions of the technology are available for preorder at $299 and $999, respectively.
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Israel’s Tyto also has its eye on other markets, notably China. The series B will facilitate the expansion by giving Tyto a strategic relationship with Ping An, the Chinese insurance company that led the round. Together, Tyto and Ping An will work to bring telehealth devices to the Chinese market. Tyto is also working to expand its presence in Europe.
The interest of Cambia Health Solutions, Ping An and Walgreens in Tyto is indicative of the potential benefits of deploying telehealth services. By extending the reach of specialists out into patients’ homes, Tyto thinks it can cut readmission rates, recover revenue lost to emergency care and improve overall care. That value proposition is attractive to insurers and other healthcare organizations.
“This new investment by Ping An, the number one insurance group by market capitalization globally, and one of the largest investment and asset management companies in the world, will enable us to fulfill the promise of transforming primary care and expand the reach of telehealth into more homes around the world,” Tyto CEO Dedi Gilad said in a statement.