Egnite’s main product is CardioCare, a software platform developed at Edwards over the last six years and deployed at more than 50 hospitals in the U.S.
The platform has applied artificial intelligence and deep machine learning to more than 1 million echocardiograms to identify patients in need of treatment for structural heart disease.
“The healthcare system is deeply fragmented,” said Joel Portice, chief executive of Egnite. “We’re trying to bring together a more practical identification and engagement process for patients.”
Portice joined Egnite from Nashville, Tenn.-based care management provider Kepro in November. He previously led Intermedix Corp., which was acquired by R1 RCM for $460 million in 2018.
A number of gaps in care, ranging from missed appointments and short patient visits to fragmented systems and provider overload can lead to delays in treatment, according to Egnite.
With CardioCare, 37% more patients were identified with severe aortic stenosis criteria, 35% more were referred to a cardiovascular specialist and 54% more received a therapy plan, it said.
“Cardio also happens to be the highest cost driver,” Portice said. “We know we can help hospitals grow and enhance the communities where these hospitals serve.”
Egnite has about 50 employees and plans two significant software releases in 2021.
Edwards (NYSE:EW) is the company’s largest investor and shareholder with a dominant position on its board of directors. Chicago-based Abundant Venture Partners, a strategic partner, will also take a seat on the board, the company said.
The Laguna Nigel-based firm will use proceeds to enhance its software, which provides patient scheduling, notifications, medication management, telehealth, data insights and more to addiction treatment centers in one dashboard.
Alleva’s team has grown from about 12 to 30 employees in the last year. It plans to hire for engineering, product and sales roles in the second half of 2021.
“Our philosophy is to help the helpers, so that they can spend more time on patient care rather than patient charting,” said Chief Executive Steve McCall, who launched the business in 2017 with co-founder and President Matt Stevens.
McCall and Stevens, both 34, previously worked together at San Clemente-based home health software firm Benesan Systems, which sold to Kinnser Software in 2014.
In addition to patient management and compliance tools, Alleva provides a patient-facing app with questionnaires, homework activities and journaling to keep patients connected to care teams and other patients.
“People relapse, go through treatment and get sent off into the world. They have the tools, but they lose that connection to others,” McCall said. “The opposite of addiction is not sobriety, it’s connection.”
The firm said it grew 110% in 2020 and has more than 200 clients in the U.S.
The recent seed round was led by Jonathan Ord, the former chief executive and founder of automotive software firm DealerSocket, which started in San Clemente in 2000.
Premium Health of Irvine has launched at-home COVID-19 testing and complementary services for individuals.
“We’re taking a new approach to health and wellness with our main focus on affordability for all,” said co-founder and Chief Executive Farhad Karmikhani.
The company currently offers PCR tests for $39 per person with results available in 24 to 48 hours. At the time of testing, patients can also opt to receive vitamin injections or an IV hydration treatment for strengthened immunity.
Premium Health is also working with large employers such as AvalonBay Communities and Marriott International to bring employees back to work, Karmikhani said.
The business was founded in 2020 with the aim to provide concierge health services to individuals and employers. The company pivoted last year to address the pandemic, though it still plans to expand its offerings in primary care, Karmikhani said.
Products in the works for 2021 include monthly memberships for telehealth and at-home physician visits as well as a prescription delivery service.
The company unveiled its Scopetrx product, which is a wireless laparoscopic swivel camera tool that provides surgeons with an increased field-of-view of over 100 degrees with 4K resolution, it said.
Images from the Scopetrx can be displayed on Ocutrx’s ORLenz surgery headset or transmitted to monitors in operating rooms.
“With current laparoscopic cameras, you have to switch your scope whenever you want to shift your field-of-vision from straight, to thirty degrees to forty-five degrees and so on,” said David Street, a vascular surgeon and member of Ocutrx’s surgical steering committee.
“Scopetrx allows you to see all of the different angles needed during a surgery with one single scope.”
“We are incredibly pleased to have moved from visualization solutions outside the body to minimally invasive technologies solving current limitations,” Michael Freeman, chief executive of Ocutrx, said.
“Having the Scopetrx instrument as part of our Operating Room suite provides surgeons with one more visualization innovation to aid with better surgery ergonomics and fewer cumbersome wires in the OR—and we are eager to see the ways in which it will change the future of medicine and improve patient outcomes.”
Beck was previously artificial intelligence practice leader at professional services firm Cognizant. He has also been a vice president of customer service at Brea-based Beckman Coulter and has experience across industries such as life science, healthcare, software, hardware and consumer goods.
“I’m both excited and humbled to join Octane because of its mission to foster innovation in Orange County,” Beck said.
“They have built one of the Top 5 SBDC accelerator programs in the nation and have facilitated raising $2.85B in capital over the last 10 years. I plan to draw upon my diverse background to assist entrepreneurs in achieving their dreams and also creating 55,000 jobs in Southern California by 2030.”
JC Ruffalo, the previous LaunchPad director for seven years, has been promoted to fund manager for Elevation Ventures Management, a new venture capital firm formed by Octane.
“Elevation Ventures will focus on SoCal companies—Octane and LaunchPad has already been doing this for years having an impact on companies from Santa Barbara to San Diego,” Ruffalo said.
“Our proven processes enables us to be successful capital providers and strategic partners.”
“We’re focused on finding credible, engaging ways of developing the skills that our states, economic development organizations and industries desperately need,” said Cynthia Jenkins, chief marketing officer of Skillsgapp.
Skillsgapp will provide gaming apps that teach middle and high school students soft and hard skills in cybersecurity, information technologies, manufacturing and product design, public services, transportation, arts and entertainment, and construction, the company said.
Jenkins launched Skillsgapp with co-founder and Chief Executive Tina Zwolinski in 2019.
The company started with a partnership with South Carolina, where it developed a post-secondary employment pathway to meet an immediate need for advanced manufacturing in the state.
