PR NewsWire | Dec 01 2021
$129 million funding raised from global venture firms and strategic investors including Horizons Ventures, I-MED Radiology and Sonic Healthcare in one of Australia’s largest Series B funding rounds ever
New pathology Joint Venture combines Harrison.ai’s expertise in clinical artificial intelligence with Sonic Healthcare’s clinical expertise and network
SYDNEY, Dec. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Harrison.ai, the breakthrough healthcare AI company, today announced it has raised AU$129 million (USD$97 million) in one of Australia’s largest-ever Series B funding rounds. The funding will go to helping Harrison.ai expand on its mission to scale critical capacity in the global healthcare system through rapid commercialisation of comprehensive clinical AI applications.
The Series B funding round, led by existing investor Horizons Ventures, featured new equity investment from Sonic Healthcare and I-MED Radiology Network, alongside existing investors Blackbird Ventures and Skip Capital. It brings the total raised by Harrison.ai within the past two years to AU$158 million (USD$118 million).
Harrison.ai also announced a new partnership with Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL), a leader in medical diagnostics, to co-develop and commercialise new clinical AI solutions in pathology. The Joint Venture will culminate in new AI applications to improve efficiency and efficacy of pathology diagnosis with AI support.
New funding to help push Harrison.ai’s proven healthcare AI model to the global stage
Harrison.ai will use the new capital to rapidly expand its team of AI data scientists and engineers, while expanding into new areas of healthcare with global clinical partners. The combination of global investors like Horizons Ventures with strategic clinical investors will enable Harrison.ai to expand globally while leveraging medical expertise and reach.
Capacity in many areas of clinical diagnosis and treatment are under strain due to ongoing increases in healthcare demand contrasted with skills shortages and pandemic-related backlogs in clinical demand. Developed healthcare systems such as the United Kingdom (UK) and United States (US) face massive shortages in skilled radiologists and clinicians, with significantly more staff required to meet surging demand for diagnosis. Despite this shortage, there is a stark disparity to other markets — the US has approximately 11 radiologists per 100,000 people compared to just 0.35 radiologists per 100,000 people in Kenya.
This increased demand for equitable, accurate and effective healthcare delivery requires complementary systems like Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide human-aided diagnosis and help relieve some of this disparity.
Harrison.ai and its partners have pioneered a unique and proven model to rapidly develop, commercialise and deploy accurate and clinically effective AI tools that support clinical diagnosis in a range of medical areas. It has developed deep artificial intelligence expertise and methodology that, when combined with the clinical expertise and data of medical partners, significantly shortens the path to market for new healthcare AI applications.
Harrison.ai and I-MED Radiology partnered to form Annalise.ai in early 2020 to develop comprehensive solutions across radiology modalities. Annalise.ai’s first product, the world’s most comprehensive AI clinical decision-support solution for Chest X-Rays, is already in use by more than 350 radiologists each day in Australia and rolling out to hundreds more. The partnership saw Annalise.ai co-research, develop and commercialise the solution within 18 months. The solution, which is capable of detecting 124 findings, was recently featured in peer-reviewed publication the Lancet Digital Health journal.
Dr Aengus Tran, Co-Founder and CEO of Harrison.ai, said: "Delivering equitable, effective and accurate healthcare to more people is a critical part of our mission at Harrison.ai, and as we emerge from the pandemic that mission is more important than ever. With our model and methodology now proven across multiple clinical areas, we are in a position to expand to new clinical areas and deliver on our mission with the support of our investors and partners."
Chris Liu from Horizons Ventures, said: "Harrison.ai’s distinct approach to AI healthcare has enabled the team to commercialise market leading solutions at record pace with its partners. We look forward to working closely with the team and our partners to help augment the capacity of healthcare systems globally."
New Sonic Healthcare Joint Venture provides new opportunities in pathology
The new partnership with Sonic Healthcare marks the next stage on the mission to deliver equitable healthcare. It will combine Harrison.ai’s depth of expertise with Sonic Healthcare’s clinical experience and distribution to commercialise an effective and accurate AI solution in pathology rapidly.
Globally, pathology faces an even more stark skills shortage, with the number of US pathologists decreasing 18% between 2007 and 2017 despite an increase in workload. Building comprehensive AI solutions for pathology will help scale the capacity of diagnostic care across the globe.
"Sonic Healthcare’s deep clinical experience and understanding combined with our proven AI methodologies will create a powerful new way to support clinicians to more effectively and efficiently diagnose patients in pathology," Dr Tran said.
Dr Colin Goldschmidt, CEO of Sonic Healthcare, said: "The formation of a joint venture with Harrison.ai is an exciting moment in Sonic Healthcare’s progression as a healthcare company. Harrison.ai is a smart, agile, and medically led company with a proven track record in the healthcare AI space. The partnership with Sonic and our deep healthcare experience and global reach represents a synergistic union and a powerful force in healthcare AI."
About Harrison.ai
Harrison.ai is a clinician-led healthcare artificial intelligence (AI) company rapidly developing and deploying AI solutions to address persistent healthcare challenges. With a mission to make world-class healthcare available and affordable to all, Harrison.ai works closely with clinical partners to deliver clinical-grade AI software at scale.
Harrison.ai works with partners to develop and deploy AI healthcare solutions that impact 50,000 patients each month in Australia, Europe and other countries. These include working with Virtus Health Limited to develop AI in IVF, as well as I-MED on Annalise CXR, the world’s most comprehensive AI clinical decision-support solution for chest X-rays. In July 2021, a Annalise CXR validation study published in the Lancet Digital Health found the AI model was capable of identifying 124 findings on chest x-rays to support and improve radiologist findings.
About Horizons Ventures
Horizons Ventures was co-founded by Solina Chau and Debbie Chang in 2005. It is known for backing era-defining companies making lasting and positive impact in the world. Amongst its string of notable early stage investments are Zoom, Impossible Foods, Perfect Day, Spotify, Siri and DeepMind, reflecting Horizons Ventures’ methodical long-term investment approach.
