Medical software developer Heartflow just raised another hefty swath of cash. Isn’t it time the Bay area startup IPO’d?
Heartflow’s diagnostic software reconfigures medical imaging data, particularly from CT scans, to build 3D models of patients’ coronary arteries for physicians to use. The company just raised $35.8 million of a potential $46.3 million round, according to a recent regulatory filing. Calls to the company to learn what the new funding’s for were unanswered.
But Heartflow is a stunningly well-capitalized medical device company – it’s raised more than $200 million since 2009. It just received FDA clearance to market its flagship FFR-CT software; in 2011 it received the EuroPCR Innovation Award for its potential to disrupt the way heart disease is managed. Here’s how it works:
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Heartflow’s noninvasive diagnostic tool lets doctors get a 3D view of a patient’s bloodflow and arterial structure. For instance, the software can identify different coronary lesions that cause arterial blockage, and pinpoint other signs of heart disease. The company points out studies that have shown that this modeling method’s superior to CT scanning alone.
Such well-funded companies are ripe targets for IPO. Heartflow has been venture-backed since 2009, ramped up the amounts it has raised consistently – with a $100+ million round that wrapped up last year, plus this one. That FDA clearance is solid – so investors must be looking for an exit, right?
Anyway, per its LinkedIn page, it’s looking for a senior clinical associate at a “pre-IPO medical software company.” So, the writing’s basically on the walls with this one. Question’s just when:
The technology comes from Dr. Charles Taylor and Dr. Christopher Zarins, who previously were at Stanford University. The company doesn’t disclose investors on its site – however, board members are from the following venture and private equity firms: U.S. Venture Partners, Capricorn Investment Group, Sandbox Industries and HealthCor Partners Management. Also on the board is William C. Weldon, former chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson.
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