Israeli Digital Health Firm EarlySense Secures $25 Million Investment for Non-Contact Smart Bed Sensor System

Recently, the Israeli digital health company EarlySense announced that it had raised $25 million in its latest round of financing. The company’s product is a contactless sensor system that can be embedded into hospital beds. This funding round was led by Bank Hapoalim, Israel’s largest commercial bank, with participation from Pitango Venture Capital and JK&B Capital.

In 2004, EarlySense was founded in Israel. Currently, the company’s R&D department and facilities are located in Ramat Gan, Israel, while its marketing headquarters are based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Two products within its flagship contactless bed sensor system have received FDA clearance: an upgraded version of the bed sensor and a chair sensor. These sensors can be placed beneath patients’ mattress and chair cushions to monitor heart rate, respiratory rate, and activity levels.

This product can monitor the condition of patients with serious illnesses who require continuous tracking but are unwilling or do not need physical contact with monitoring devices. EarlySense's monitoring system conducts big data analysis on patients' vital signs to understand their health status and helps medical staff working in unmonitored wards to timely grasp the progression of patients' conditions. Meanwhile, the use of the monitoring system improves the work efficiency of nursing staff and reduces the length of hospital stays for patients in general wards and ICU wards.

EarlySense Product Images

EarlySense’s sensor products can be used in hospitals or at home. The hospital equipment solutions are priced at several thousand dollars per bed, while consumer-grade devices for home use are typically priced in the hundreds of dollars.

It is reported that EarlySense secured $13 million in Series C financing in July 2010 and raised an additional $7 million in Series D financing in October of the same year. In June 2015, the company obtained $20 million in funding led by Samsung. Following this round, the company’s total cumulative fundraising amounted to approximately $100 million.

Overview of EarlySense's Financing and Investment Activities

EarlySense stated that the company will use the funds from this financing round to refine its products and expand its market presence in the healthcare and digital health sectors.

Avner Halperin, Co-founder and CEO of EarlySense, stated, “We are highly optimistic about the rapid growth of the healthcare market. This funding enables us to continuously enhance our products through new technologies. This year, over 100,000 patients will use our bed monitoring system, which is designed to provide them with a superior healthcare experience. For individual patients and their families, contactless bed monitoring solutions are undoubtedly an excellent choice. In the future, millions of people will see improvements in their healthcare delivery thanks to EarlySense’s contactless sensors.”

The company established contact and reached a collaboration with Samsung in its early years. EarlySense did not intend to directly manufacture its own consumer-grade devices, preferring instead to serve solely as a sensor manufacturer, while Samsung is a consumer device producer. In addition, EarlySense has developed several other health-related products for consumers, including Samsung’s sleep tracker, the iFit sleep sensor, and Beurer’s Sleep Expert app.

Avner Halperin, Co-Founder and CEO of the company, earned a Master’s degree in Applied Physics from Tel Aviv University in Israel and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. With extensive experience in the sensor industry, Mr. Halperin previously served as Deputy Director of R&D at Eldat Communication, Head of Newlogy – Entrepreneurship & Consulting, and Vice President at Lenslet.

Company President Tim O’Mally has over 25 years of experience in the medical technology sector, having previously served as CEO of Medwave and Vice President of ZOLL Medical Corporation.

Pictured above, from left to right: CEO Avner Halperin and President Tim O’Mally.

Bank Hapoalim, established in 1921 by the Histadrut (the General Federation of Laborers in Israel), is the largest commercial bank in Israel and enjoys significant prominence in global financial markets. Listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, the bank operates more than 577 ATMs, 280 branches, eight regional business centers, and 23 specialized business units across Israel.