Healthcare Startup Augmedix Announces $3.2 Million in Venture Funding

SAN FRANCISCO, March 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Augmedix announced that it has received venture funding from DCM and Emergence Capital Partners. The funding closed on 31-Aug-2013. Founded by CEO Ian Shakil and Chief Product Officer Pelu Tran, Augmedix -- a service powered by Google Glass -- reclaims the hours physicians spend on the computer entering or retrieving data from electronic health records and refocuses them on what matters most: patient care.

The company also announced that it will be moving to a new headquarters in San Francisco, and has grown to 36 employees.

Augmedix will utilize its VC funding to expand its team and ramp up its efforts to reach outpatient doctors across the nation. The company is revenue generating and working with a select number of national health systems.

"Doctors spend more than 1/3 of their day on the computer, inputting or retrieving data from electronic health records. The amount of data and documentation is overwhelming," said Shakil. "Powered by Google Glass, Augmedix rehumanizes the doctor-patient interaction by delivering patient satisfaction, doctor efficiency, doctor satisfaction and health record quality."

Augmedix has been working behind the scenes since 2012 to build its service platform. The company has completed several pilot studies demonstrating significant improvements in physician productivity across a variety of specialties.

"Augmedix reclaims the majority of the time that would otherwise be spent feeding the beast," said Shakil, referring to the time that doctors spend on the EHR. The Augmedix pilots also demonstrated high levels of patient satisfaction with the service. This is a testament to Augmedix's investment in the patient experience. The company educates each patient about the service and gives each the opportunity to decline if he or she so desires. "Patient acceptance and satisfaction has been resoundingly high throughout the country -- from San Francisco to rural areas," added Shakil.

"We believe in Google Glass, and we first expect to see an uptake in enterprise verticals -- especially in healthcare. Ian and Pelu have assembled the right team to lead the revolution. We've taken a look at just about every Google Glass startup concept -- and we've yet to see an opportunity as compelling as Augmedix," said Kevin Spain, general partner with Emergence Capital Partners.

"Augmedix is breaking new ground by using Google Glass in the healthcare space. They are at the right place at the right time to help healthcare organizations meet mandates such as 'meaningful use,' while improving the quality of patient care," said Peter Moran, general partner at DCM. "We believe Augmedix is an exceptionally promising startup that is destined for tremendous success. They already have established position and are seeing strong demand with a beneficial, completely unique solution."

The company's genesis began with the help of Rock Health (a San Francisco-based digital health seed fund) and Upstart (a funding/networking and mentoring platform). Since then, Augmedix has established a host of other service partners, including Cooper, Fenwick & West LLP, PLC, Schox, Stanford Venture Studio, and others.

About Augmedix
Augmedix' co-founders first teamed up at Stanford University to develop medical devices as part of the Biodesign program. Over the course of the program, the two realized that no matter what the specialty, physicians were drowning in a flood of data and documentation. Their focus quickly turned to digital health. After trying an early version of Google Glass in the summer of 2012, the two realized the platform's potential in healthcare and dropped everything to create the world's first Google Glass startup. That company, Augmedix, was founded with one core belief: technology can free physicians and allow them to focus on what they do best - taking care of patients.

Contact Information
David Templeton
[email protected]
203-530-0458

SOURCE Augmedix