Tabletop blood tester Sight Diagnostics raises $71M to expand commercial reach

Sight Diagnostics has raised $71 million to help expand the commercial reach of its FDA-cleared, tabletop machine for analyzing a finger-prick’s worth of blood.

The Tel Aviv-based company’s series D round was backed by Koch Disruptive Technologies and OurCrowd, plus a follow-on investment from CK Hutchison’s Longliv Ventures. The proceeds bring Sight’s total funding to over $124 million.

The money will also support research and development work into the detection of additional diseases and biomarkers to identify potentially severe cases of COVID-19.

Sight’s OLO analyzer uses digital microscopes and artificial intelligence-powered algorithms to visually inspect blood samples, counting up within minutes the numbers of platelets, red and white blood cells and more to provide a snapshot of a person’s health.

The device currently measures 19 different blood-based parameters, and the company is exploring new algorithms aimed at detecting the early signs of diseases such as sepsis and cancer, using its database of patient blood imagery.

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“We firmly believe that Sight’s method of using machine vision to analyze blood is a significant leap forward from the current alternative in healthcare,” said Chase Koch, president of Koch Disruptive Technologies. “Not only is the company bringing truly innovative solutions to the blood diagnostics industry, it is also driving a vision to decentralize information and increase consumer access in healthcare markets across the world.”

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The cartridge-based OLO received the FDA’s blessing in December 2019 plus a CE mark in Europe the year before. So far, Sight has secured contracts with providers and distributors to ship more than 1,000 analyzers in the coming years, according to the company, which has also been working toward an FDA waiver that would allow the OLO’s use at the point of care, including in doctor’s offices and pharmacies.

“This new investment will enable Sight to substantially expand our U.S. footprint and help usher in a new era of AI-driven diagnostics for a myriad of diseases and health conditions,” co-founder and CEO Yossi Pollak said.