HealthBeats, a health tech startup based in Singapore, has scored $3 million in a seed funding round led by healthcare investor Heritas Capital, together with SEEDS Capital, the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore. 

WHAT IT DOES

Launched in 2018, HealthBeats offers healthcare providers and patients a platform for remote and real-time vitals monitoring using clinical-grade medical devices from iHealth, Hillrom, and Andesfit Health. Parameters include temperature, blood oxygen saturation, blood pressure, blood glucose, and body weight.

It has a chat support feature connecting patients to their care teams; it reminds patients of tasks as prescribed by their doctors; and it presents summaries and trends of health data collected in real-time. The platform can also alert healthcare providers of their patients' deteriorating conditions.

WHAT IT'S FOR

The seed funding will help HealthBeats build its core capabilities and plans for future international expansion. CEO and founder Aileen Lai said: "The funding will boost our current strong growth momentum as we continue to deliver stellar value to our stakeholders through the acceleration of our product development and business development efforts".

WHY IT MATTERS

Based on a study by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, remote monitoring of chronic conditions could potentially save hospitals and health facilities up to A$3 billion ($2.1 billion) by reducing avoidable hospital admissions by more than half and the rate of length of stay by over 75%.

According to HealthBeats, Australian providers that have adopted its Remote Vitals Monitoring platform reported positive outcomes with some claiming up to a 50% reduction in avoidable admissions.

The HealthBeats Remote Vitals Monitoring platform is currently being used by about 30 hospitals and clinics across Australia, including primary health networks and local health districts. It supports Australian health facilities in different areas, such as chronic disease management, post-hospitalisation, emergency response for COVID-19 and clinical trials.

MARKET SNAPSHOT

Providers of remote patient monitoring (RPM) solutions have increasingly attracted investments in recent years. Just days ago, Biofourmis scores $300 million in Series D funding, pushing it to unicorn status. Cadence also reached unicorn status following the close of its $100 million Series B funding round in December. Meanwhile, VitalConnect, which develops wearables and wireless sensors for RPM, secured $39 million in Series E funding early this year.

ON THE RECORD

Janet Chia, principal and head of venture capital at Heritas Capital, noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has created "the urgent need to support our healthcare professionals and caregivers effectively with fit-for-purpose tools for enabling alternate sites of care, especially in hospital-home community settings". 

She sees that HealthBeats is "well-positioned to enhance and deliver a best-in-class remote patient monitoring platform as an integral part of value-based healthcare infrastructure beyond the pandemic".

Meanwhile, SEEDS Capital will also be assisting HealthBeats in developing the company's core capabilities and expansion into global markets, according to General Manager Tan Kaixin. "The solutions provided by homegrown startup HealthBeats are designed to meet the growing demand for remote monitoring solutions and the gradual shift from provider to patient-centric solutions in today's healthcare climate," he said.