Imaging AI vendor Cleerly raises $106M in Series C funding
Cleerly has raised $106 million, the Denver-based imaging artificial intelligence vendor announced Wednesday.
New York software investment firm Insight Partners led the Series C funding round with Boston-based Battery Ventures also contributing. Founded in 2017, Cleerly offers an AI solution that analyzes coronary CT angiography images for signs of heart disease.
The company will use the funds to scale commercial growth and conduct further research on its solution. Five of the seven Medicare Administrative Contractors have now approved coverage for such CCTA AI, which is also offered by rival vendors HeartFlow and Elucid.
“With this investment, we look forward to helping Cleerly expand its reach and impact, bringing this potentially lifesaving innovation to more patients and health systems nationally,” Scott Barclay, managing director at Insight Partners, said in a statement shared Dec. 4. “As we've seen with their recent Medicare and CPT I code approvals, this technology is both valuable and ready today in the fight against heart disease,” he added later.
Cleerly noted that its software enables comprehensive phenotyping of coronary artery disease, built off scientific research based on millions of medical images. Reimbursement extends to Medicare beneficiaries with acute or stable chest pain and less than 70% stenosis found on CCTA. CMS previously established a national payment amount of $950 when using the software in hospitals.
About 60.6 million Medicare beneficiaries and 33 million Advantage users now have access to the solution, those involved noted. Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 cause of death globally, costing the U.S. $422 billion annually. Barclay and other investors envision CCTA AI serving as a new screening approach similar to mammograms or colonoscopies.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.