Pr3vent Secures $1.5M Series A Funding to Advance AI-Powered Newborn Eye Disease Screening with 97% Accuracy

VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) has learned that Pr3vent, a Silicon Valley-based startup specializing in healthcare AI, recently announced the completion of a $1.5 million Series A financing round. The round was led by InFocus Capital Partners, an investment firm focused on the ophthalmology sector. Reportedly, Pr3vent completed a $1 million seed funding round last July, with participation from Skyview Ventures and Trousdale Ventures.

Pr3vent, headquartered in Palo Alto, California, has developed an artificial intelligence-based system that screens retinal images of newborns to diagnose potential eye diseases requiring follow-up treatment.

Data show that up to 9% of newborns suffer from eye-related conditions, which, if left untreated, may have lifelong adverse effects on vision. To date, there has been no eye disease screening technology suitable for use in millions of newborns.

Pr3vent’s screening tool is powered by artificial intelligence. Its breakthrough technology employs an algorithm to analyze non-invasive images of infant retinas, enabling immediate identification of pathologies and facilitating examination and treatment at the most effective time.

Pr3vent was born out of a conversation between the company’s co-founders, Darius Moshfeghi and Jochen Kumm, during a lunch meeting.

Darius Moshfeghi is a practicing ophthalmologist who shares the story of a patient with an eye condition. Had the disease been detected earlier, treatment could have prevented the avoidable vision loss.

Leveraging Jochen Kumm’s expertise in developing computational tools for healthcare, the duo conceived a software solution capable of detecting ocular abnormalities and preventing vision loss in pediatric patients.

The company’s platform has conducted personalized screening of hundreds of thousands of neonatal retinal images through exclusive licensing, and collaborates with pediatric retinal specialists to detect pathologies with high accuracy. Jochen Kumm stated that the technology currently achieves an accuracy rate of approximately 97% in detecting ocular abnormalities.

“InFocus Capital Partners is proud to lead Pr3vent’s current funding round. We value Pr3vent’s innovative AI platform and understand the importance of helping it succeed,” said Ron Weiss, Managing Partner at InFocus Capital Partners. “Pr3vent is at the forefront of applying artificial intelligence technology to ophthalmology, and we believe this will help prevent avoidable vision loss in children.”

“We are committed to shaping the future of artificial intelligence in ophthalmology and transforming how healthcare providers detect, diagnose, and treat pediatric eye diseases,” said Darius Moshfeghi, co-founder of Pr3vent. “Investment from InFocus Capital Partners will help accelerate the development of imaging systems for the early detection of preventable vision loss in newborns.”

In an interview, Jochen Kumm, CEO of Pr3vent, revealed that Pr3vent had entered into a commercial agreement with Mednax. Mednax is a national healthcare group with operations in more than 4,000 hospitals across China and is the largest provider of newborn hearing screening services.

“From a practical standpoint, this is a huge leap forward, as it means we will reach customers, patients, and infants more quickly,” Jochen Kumm said in an interview.

“This financing has enabled Pr3vent to create a promising artificial intelligence solution in the field of ophthalmology,” said CEO Jochen Kumm. “Machine vision and artificial intelligence will make significant contributions to the future of this field, and we are delighted that Pr3vent’s AI system will help newborns.”

InFocus Capital Partners is a venture capital fund dedicated to providing early-stage financing for ophthalmology research companies. The leadership and advisory team at InFocus comprises clinical ophthalmologists, ophthalmic business experts, clinical research specialists, and seasoned financial executives. InFocus Capital Partners has participated in four investment deals, with its most recent investment being in Pr3vent.

(Compiled by: Tan Xin)