Biotech News | Read the latest health news on TechCrunch

Sequoia-backed Knowde raises Series C at a valuation cut

Rebecca Szkutak — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 17:03:56 +0000

The San Jose-based startup raised $60 million in a round that values it lower than the $500 million valuation it garnered in its most recent round, according to multiple sources.

Healx, an AI-enabled drug discovery platform for rare diseases, raises $47M

Paul Sawers — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 11:00:00 +0000

The company also said it has received regulatory clearance to start Phase 2 clinical trials for a new drug in the U.S. later this year.

Fertility tracking app Flo Health raises $200M at a $1B+ valuation

Ingrid Lunden — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 12:47:42 +0000

Women’s health tech, which leverages innovations in AI, smartphones and connected wearables to give women more insights into reproductive and menstrual health, continues to gain momentum with users, and investors are following. London-based Flo Health, a fertility-focused period-tracking app, on Tuesday said it has raised a $200 million Series C from General Atlantic. The funding […]

Intron Health gets backing for its speech-recognition tool that recognizes African accents

Annie Njanja — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 11:04:51 +0000

Voice recognition is getting integrated in nearly all facets of modern living, but there remains a big gap: Speakers of minority languages and those with thick accents or speech disorders like stuttering are typically less able to use speech-recognition tools that control applications, transcribe or automate tasks, among other functions. Tobi Olatunji, founder and CEO […]

Pearl raises $58M to help dentists make better diagnoses using AI

Marina Temkin — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 10:30:00 +0000

Dental care is a necessity, yet many patients lack confidence in their dentists’ ability to provide accurate diagnoses and appropriate treatments. Some dentists overtreat patients, leading to unnecessary expenses, while others may miss critical issues that could develop into more significant and costly problems in the future. While seeking a second opinion from another dentist […]

Strava’s next chapter: New CEO talks AI, inclusivity, and why ‘dark mode’ took so long

Paul Sawers — Sat, 20 Jul 2024 15:00:00 +0000

TechCrunch sat down with Strava's new CEO in London for a wide-ranging interview, delving into what the company is prioritizing, and what we can expect in the future as the company embarks on its "next chapter."

Ultrahuman’s smart ring gets AFib detection

Natasha Lomas — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 11:00:00 +0000

The smart ring has long played second fiddle to the smart watch. While tech giants like Apple and Google duked it out over wrists for years, the ring has been significantly quieter, a space where plucky startups have a chance to make their mark. Things are quickly changing, however. Samsung will debut its first finger-worn […]

AI-powered Regard nabs $61M to find missed illness, boost hospital revenue

Marina Temkin — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 11:00:00 +0000

People in tech often say that data is the new oil. That phrase, coined by British mathematician Clive Humby, of course implies that data is valuable. Data about a person’s health can also provide meaningful insights and improve outcomes, but only 3% of patient data is currently used by physicians, according to the World Economic […]

Seae Ventures acquires Unseen Capital after founder death

Marina Temkin — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 12:00:00 +0000

Seae Ventures is acquiring Unseen Capital after the death of founder Kayode Owens in 2021. The combined firm will continue to invest in healthcare for minorities and underserved populations. Owens, an investor and entrepreneur, launched Unseen Capital to focus on early-stage healthcare companies started by underrepresented founders, in 2020. He raised $30 million but unfortunately […]

OpenAI Startup Fund backs AI healthcare venture with Arianna Huffington

Kyle Wiggers — Mon, 08 Jul 2024 23:55:39 +0000

Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are throwing their weight behind a new venture, Thrive AI Health, that aims to build AI-powered assistant tech to promote healthier lifestyles. Backed by Huffington’s mental wellness firm Thrive Global and the OpenAI Startup Fund, the early-stage venture fund closely associated with OpenAI, Thrive AI […]

J2 Ventures, focused on military healthcare, grabs $150M for its second fund

Marina Temkin — Thu, 04 Jul 2024 11:00:00 +0000

J2 Ventures, a firm led mostly by U.S. military veterans, announced on Thursday that it has raised a $150 million second fund. The Boston-based firm invests in startups whose products are purchased by civilians and the U.S. Department of Defense. While many emerging VCs are struggling to raise second funds, J2’s latest vehicle is more […]

Granza Bio grabs $7M seed from Felicis and YC to advance delivery of cancer treatments

Marina Temkin — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 14:00:00 +0000

Ashwin Nandakumar and Ashwin Jainarayanan were working on their doctorates at adjacent departments in Oxford, but they didn’t know each other. Nandakumar, who was studying oncology, one day stumbled across a curious dataset for prostate cancer, with which he needed sequencing help. “I reached out to a few friends asking to help me analyze this […]

Robot cats, dogs and birds are being deployed amid an ‘epidemic of loneliness’

Brian Heater — Sun, 30 Jun 2024 18:00:00 +0000

Founded in 2015 as a Hasbro spinoff, Ageless Innovations specializes in producing robotic companion animals for the aging population through its Joy for All brand.

AI-powered drug development, VW teams up with Rivian and DEI is ‘bad’

Haje Jan Kamps, Mary Ann Azevedo, Kirsten Korosec — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 14:15:00 +0000

Welcome back to another recap of Equity, TechCrunch’s flagship podcast about the business of startups. This episode is jam-packed with deals, hot topics and the latest dramaaaaaa in the tech world. If you haven’t listened yet, consider this your spoiler-filled invitation to dive in. Three Deals of the Week Formation Bio’s $372 million raise First […]

Amazon consolidates Amazon Clinic into the One Medical brand

Lauren Forristal — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 15:32:23 +0000

Amazon is folding its Amazon Clinic telehealth service into its primary care business One Medical, the company announced on Thursday. The company explained in today’s blog post that, to simplify Amazon’s primary care offering for customers, the service has now been rebranded to Amazon One Medical Pay-per-visit, and now offers more affordable per-visit pricing. Customers […]

SoftBank forms AI healthcare JV in Japan with Tempus

Kate Park — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 13:12:45 +0000

SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son announced on Thursday that the Japanese tech giant has set up a joint venture in the country with Chicago-based health tech company Tempus. Together, the pair plan to develop AI-powered personalized medical services, by way of analyzing data in Japan under the name SB Tempus. The company plans to start […]

Sonia’s AI chatbot steps in for therapists

Kyle Wiggers — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 20:12:12 +0000

Can chatbots replace human therapists? Some startups — and patients — claim that they can. But it’s not exactly settled science. One study found that 80% of people who’ve used OpenAI’s ChatGPT for mental health advice consider it a good alternative to regular therapy, while a separate report found that chatbots can be effective in […]

Formation Bio raises $372M to boost drug development with AI

Kyle Wiggers — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 14:49:36 +0000

Formation builds tech-forward solutions for clinical trials and drug development.

Sensi.AI grabs $31M Series B from Insight, Zeev to monitor seniors 24/7

Marina Temkin — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Older adults increasingly want to age in their homes rather than nursing facilities. A study by the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) found that nearly 90% of people over 65 want to stay in their homes as they grow older. That means there is plenty of work for home care agencies whose staff assist […]

10 of the most exciting digital health startups of 2024, according to VCs

Marina Temkin — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 23:49:53 +0000

In the post-COVID world, VCs say it’s not as easy to get excited about investing in digital health. Deal activity in healthcare IT was relatively flat in Q1 2024 at 74 total deals, valued at about $1 billion total, up only 3% from the year-ago quarter, according to PitchBook data. Still, promising startups have grabbed […]