Siren Raises $11.8 Million to Power Commercial Expansion of its Smart Fabric Remote Patient Monitoring Solution
SAN FRANCISCO, May 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Siren, a medical device company that has developed breakthrough technology to embed microsensors within fabric, allowing for mass production of affordable, washable smart textiles with remote patient monitoring applications, announced today that it has raised $11.8 million in funding led by Anathem Ventures, with participation from existing investors DCM, Khosla Ventures, 500 Startups, and Peter Thiel's Founders Fund. In connection with this Series B round of funding, DCM Partner Jason Krikorian will join Siren's board and Anathem Managing Partner Crystal McKellar will join Siren as an advisor.
Since its founding in 2015, Siren has raised $22 million across three funding rounds to position itself for commercial expansion, including a previously undisclosed $6.5 million Series A in 2018 and a $3.4 million seed round. Siren was the TechCrunch CES 2017 Hardware Battlefield Winner, and was named 2018 CES Best of Innovation for its innovative smart textile technology.
Empowering Doctors to Effectively Care for Patients Remotely
Siren's first commercial product is an FDA-registered temperature monitoring sock that connects wirelessly to a software application, allowing podiatrists to detect early signs of inflammation in patients at risk of developing diabetic foot ulcers. The onset of diabetic foot ulcers represents a dangerous condition that, when left unchecked, can lead to serious complications, including amputation. Today, podiatrists largely rely on in-clinic visits to manually monitor the temperature elevations that are the precursor to a diabetic foot ulcer. However, ulcers form in a matter of hours or days and can worsen rapidly between such visits. Siren's solution enables real-time detection and early intervention, which can prevent the serious complications that result in over 100,000 lower limb amputations every year and cost the US healthcare system over $43 billion annually.1
COVID-19 Changing Healthcare Now and Forever
Siren's remote monitoring solution is particularly valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it allows healthcare practitioners to stay engaged with and care for their patients remotely, limiting in-clinic visits to true emergencies while delivering additional services for physician practices through CMS' recent expansion of Medicare reimbursement for remote patient monitoring services.
"COVID-19 has changed healthcare now and forever. Digitization and virtual care is no longer a nice-to-have, it's a need-to-have. Patients need remote patient monitoring to collect and send crucial health data to their physicians. Clinics, by transitioning some medical staff into virtual monitoring, can stay operational, prevent job loss, and allow patients continued access to care," commented Ran Ma, CEO of Siren. "Additionally, as a medical device company, we have changed the way that we do business - how we make sales, provide customer support, and how our products work. The companies who not only survive, but thrive, are the ones best able to evolve and help their customers adapt to this new world."
Series B lead and Anathem Ventures Managing Partner Crystal McKellar said, "Technology, at its best, should deliver higher functionality at a fraction of the cost. In the healthcare space, this means improving patient outcomes while reducing the financial burden to the system. Siren's breakthrough technology combines all of these important adoption drivers, and I am thrilled to partner with Siren to help further the company's growth."
DCM Partner Jason Krikorian, a long-time Siren investor who co-led Siren's 2016 seed round, noted, "When we initially invested, what I saw was a resourceful team and a creative and elegant product that would represent an enormous improvement for patient care and cost-effective physician workflows in any environment. The current pandemic has made it clear that remote monitoring solutions will be a critical part of any physician's practice. I'm excited to work even closer with the team on this next phase of growth."
About Siren
Siren is a technology company founded in 2015 by Ran Ma, Henk Jan Scholten, and Jie Fu that has developed proprietary technology to embed microsensors into fabric, allowing for the mass production of affordable, washable smart textiles. Siren's products seamlessly integrate into their users' everyday lives while providing real-time biofeedback to patients and their doctors. Siren's first commercial product is an FDA-registered temperature monitoring sock for the early detection of inflammation that leads to diabetic foot ulcers, which costs the health system over $43 billion a year and leads to over 100,000 lower limb amputations annually in the United States. www.siren.care
About DCM
DCM is a venture capital firm with over $4 billion under management. Since 1996, DCM has invested in more than 400 technology companies across the U.S. and Asia. With offices in Silicon Valley, Beijing, and Tokyo, DCM empowers its entrepreneurs with hands-on operational guidance and a global network of business and financial resources. www.dcm.com
About Anathem Ventures
Anathem Ventures is an early stage venture capital fund that invests in the Seed to Series B rounds of great companies that have developed breakthrough technology with strong IP protection that they are leveraging to win and own well-defined, high-margin markets. Anathem is located in Jackson Square in the heart of San Francisco. www.anathemventures.com
1American Diabetes Association, "Diagnosis and Management of Diabetic Foot Complications", 2018.
SOURCE Siren Care
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