Houston-based startup BrainCheck raised $10 million in Series B capital to develop its cognitive health screening technology.
BrainCheck's Series B funding round was led by Austin-based Next Coast Ventures and Austin-based S3 Ventures, the health technology firm announced Nov. 3. Additional investors in the Series B included Austin-based True Wealth Ventures, Chicago-based Tensility Venture Partners and Leawood, Kansas-based Nueterra Capital.
UPMC Enterprises, the commercialization arm of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and Overland Park, Kansas-based insurance company SelectQuote (NYSE: SLQT) joined as strategic investors for BrainCheck. To date, BrainCheck has raised $20 million in capital, the company said.
Yael Katz, co-founder and CEO of BrainCheck, said the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital health and "telehealth" technologies, like BrainCheck's digital platform.
"There's also been renewed focus on seniors — the importance of caring for the elderly and being able to meet people where they are if they're at home and can't get into the doctor's office," Katz said.
BrainCheck was founded in 2015 by Katz and Dr. David Eagleman, a former Baylor College of Medicine neuroscientist. The BrainCheck's platform provides digital, mobile cognitive screeners, clinical decision support, features for remote cognitive care planning and more. BrainCheck is an FDA Class II Software as a Medical Device, or SAMD, used by more than 400 neurology, geriatrics and primary care practices for cognitive health screening. Physicians at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins and Cleveland Clinic are using BrainCheck to conduct cognitive testing, the firm said.
Since BrainCheck's founding, the health tech firm has expanded to nearly 40 employees across its offices in Houston and Austin, Katz said.
"We've grown across all areas of the company — software developers and neuroscientists, as well as sales and marketing," Katz said.
With the additional $10 million in capital, BrainCheck aims to continue increasing adoption of its technology with clinicians and health systems across the country. The firm plans to roll out a digital therapeutic for patients to use in order to put into practice the care plans clinicians prescribe, Katz said.
BrainCheck also aims to continue expanding its headcount with employees in software development, user experience design, sales and marketing after closing the Series B financing.
BrainCheck is headquartered at 5615 Kirby Drive just north of Rice Village. The company previously had an office inside of the Texas Medical Center Innovation Institute. The firm announced raising an $8 million Series A round in 2019.
