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Teleradiology startup comes out of stealth mode, announces $16.5M funding round

Nines, a teleradiology company using machine learning to triage important cases, raised a $16.5 million funding round led by Accel and 8VC.

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A new teleradiology company aiming to aid radiologists to prioritize imaging for review has officially launched.

Nines, which came out of stealth mode recently, was founded in 2017. In a news release, the Palo Alto startup announced that it is backed by $16.5 million in venture capital and the money is being used to build out a team of radiologists and data scientists.

Nines CEO David Stavens

The company was created by David Stavens, co-founder and former CEO of education unicorn Udacity, and Dr. Alexander Kagen, radiology site chair for Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospitals. Nines’ technology is intended to detect conditions from head CT scans, such as hemorrhages and mass effect, prioritizing them for review by a radiologist.

Nines’ triage tool is not currently in use while it seeks approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

Nines Chief Medical Officer Dr. Alex Kagen

Kagen said the tech should help radiologists triage these cases during busy times when images are processed on a first-come, first-serve basis. He said technological advances have created an increased workload, with CT scans now generating thousands of images that radiologists must process along with patient history from electronic medical record systems.

“Trying to sort through that stack is an issue all radiologists have,” Kagen said. “If you have a list of 20 patients and patient No. 14 has an acute brain hemorrhage, we want to get to him now, not wait to get to number 14.”

New funding
The $16.5 million Series A round actually closed last August and was led by Accel and 8VC. Partners from both venture capital firms joined Nines’ board.

“They have built the strongest AI and technical team we’ve seen in the space and combined it with deeply relevant — and impressive — medical experience,” said Joe Lonsdale, founding partner of 8VC, in a statement.

Other investors in the round include former Deutsche Bank COO Kim Hammonds, Veritas founder and former CEO Mark Leslie, and Lori Goler, vice president of human resources and recruiting for Facebook.

FDA approval
Nines is currently seeking FDA approval for its Emergent Neuro Suite technology as a computer-aided triage and notification software (CADt). Specifically, it will seek a 510(k) clearance from the FDA, a faster approval process that requires Nines to prove its technology is substantially equivalent to a device that is already on the market.

“AI and machine learning in radiology, it’s a quickly-growing field,” Stavens said. “There are a number of CADt medical devices that have been approved over the last few years.”

Of course, that also brings more competition. For example, teleradiology giant vRad has also been developing systems to help triage stroke and trauma patients. Stavens said Nines would set itself apart by having its radiologists, engineers and data scientists work on projects together.

“We think we are the first company to blend the best AI and machine learning with the best radiologists. We think that you need both,” he said.

Nines’ business has two components: its software solution, and its team of radiologists. The company’s specialists partner with hospitals, such as Mount Sinai Health System, to provide radiology services on evenings and weekends, when staffing levels are lower.

Stavens also hopes radiologists will also work with Nines’ engineers and data scientists to create new features that will help medical professionals.

“This is our starting point,” Stavens said. “We have a roadmap of algorithms we would like to build. Some are in process now, and others we will submit to the FDA after they review our Emergent Neuro Suite.”

In the longer term, Kagen also hopes to build tools that will help radiologists manage their growing workloads. The company is currently hiring for engineers at its Palo Alto headquarters, as well as teleradiologists across the U.S., according to its website.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of the story misstated when Nines’ Series A funding round closed. It was in August 2018 and not this August. 

Photo: Claude Nakagawa, Getty Images

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