Seattle-based health care tech startup PreemptiveAI launched out of stealth on March 6 with $6.4 million in funding.
PreemptiveAI is partnering with Duke University to test the startup's technology, which is designed to predict health care outcomes. The Duke partnership is particularly focused on predicting hospital readmissions and identifying rising health risks, according to a news release.
"PreemptiveAI represents a monumental leap forward in our pursuit of transformative healthcare. Their technology is the catalyst we've needed to shift paradigms," Lana Wahid, medical director of Duke's early phase research unit, said in the release.
PreemptiveAI takes biomedical signals from smartphones and other wearable devices to make real-time diagnoses. On its website, the startup uses the example of determining whether someone is likely to have a heart attack in the next month or whether someone is showing signs of an undiagnosed cancer. PreemptiveAI's tech is aimed at providers, pharmaceutical companies and payers.
PreemptiveAI is a spinout of the Seattle-based Allen Institute for AI. According to the release, the startup is planning for more commercial launches this year. PreemptiveAI's investors include Inspired Capital, Meridian Street Capital and Precursor Ventures.
Jamien McCullum, PreemptiveAI's co-founder and CEO, was an entrepreneur-in-residence at the Allen Institute for AI for more than two years, according to his LinkedIn page. He was the vice president of business development at the remote patient monitoring company Optimize Health for more than a year before that.
Matt Whitehill and Leon Gatys round out the founding team. Gatys was a founding member of Apple Health's AI team, according to PreemptiveAI, while Whitehill has a computer science doctorate from the University of Washington.
The Allen Institute for AI has spun out multiple local startups recently. In April, the institute spun out the Seattle-based robot data company Roboto AI. Seattle-based public speaking platform Yoodli launched out of the institute in 2022.
