VoxNeuro, which develops software that measures brain performance, has raised $4.5 million CAD ($3.4 million USD) in all-equity funding as it looks to expand across the United States (US).
According to VoxNeuro, the financing was led by the undisclosed family office that contributed to its previous $4-million round in October. That office is now its largest shareholder, the company noted.
The funding round also saw participation from its strategic investor g.tec, which develops high-performance brain-computer interfaces and neurotechnologies, as well as Klick Health, Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation by Baycrest, McMaster University, Bay Area Health Trust, and a number of angel investors.
With this funding, VoxNeuro plans to accelerate its product development and operational model as it scales clinical installations across the US. The startup’s chief business officer James Connolly told BetaKit the capital will go towards its sales and marketing efforts, partnerships, and continued development with institutions.
Launched out of McMaster University in 2017, VoxNeuro’s cognitive-health assessment management platform, called CHAMP, uses brain biomarkers to provide clinicians with a quantitative assessment of patients’ key cognitive functions. These could include factors like attention and concentration, information processing, and working memory. They are scored against a normative database to generate a report.
In working towards making cognitive-health assessments more objective, VoxNeuro’s leadership and advisory team is stacked with experienced professionals in health technology, led by co-founder and chair John F. Connolly, father of James Connolly and a renowned expert in cognitive neuroscience who co-directs the Language, Memory & Brain Lab at McMaster University, among many other academic accolades.
In March 2022, VoxNeuro tapped Jason Flowerday as CEO, who has led several other healthtech companies with the same executive title including Think Research, MDBriefCase, Telo Genomics (formerly 3D Signatures), and Pro Bono Bio.
Speaking about this funding, Flowerday said the continued support of VoxNeuro’s investors has contributed to the company’s roadmap in becoming “The Brain Company” and scaling its products across more clinics.
“Our unwavering commitment to giving everyone’s brain a voice through research-intensive, innovative solutions adds meaningful value to healthcare providers and aims to improve patient outcomes,” Flowerday said.
Dual-headquartered between Toronto and Boston, MA, VoxNeuro has been actively expanding its presence in both countries.
RELATED: VoxNeuro closes $4 million to help diagnose concussions and Alzheimer’s disease
In September 2022, VoxNeuro announced a partnership with Boston University to launch two studies that will evaluate its cognitive-health assessment platform in an outpatient setting to assess diagnostic accuracy, focusing on patients with mild traumatic brain injury (concussion) and Alzheimer’s disease.
Later that same month, VoxNeuro revealed its collaboration with the Canadian Armed Forces to study the cognitive effects of intense military training regimes designed to reflect a combat environment and blast exposure. The goal for this study is to understand how to best improve the diagnosis of brain injuries in active military personnel who are exposed to repetitive “subconcussive” impacts—in other words, head traumas that don’t cause immediate symptoms.
Further in its product-development plans, VoxNeuro said it is developing a machine-learning enhancement to its clinical tool, which it expects to promote increased precision and a more holistic view of patients’ cognitive health.
