Sparrow BioAcoustics’ $13 Million Seed Financing Round

With the growth of the health technology sector and more people engaging with their health data, Sparrow BioAcoustics is leading charge in the ‘Software as a Medical Device’ industry. On September 20, 2024, the Newfoundland-based health technology start-up closed a $13 million seed financing round. The round was led by Killic Capital, Klister Credit, and Pelorus Ventures.

Founded in 2019, Sparrow BioAcoustics has developed, Stethophone, a software application which enables users to turn their smartphones into stethoscopes and provides users with medical-grade diagnostics. With these diagnostics, medical professionals can examine areas of concern or unusual sounds. Last year, Sparrow BioAcoustics received FDA approval for both professionals and consumers to use its software. This marked a huge step forward for cardiac and pulmonary disease detection as traditional methods of cardiac monitoring are often expensive and inaccessible.

This latest funding round enables Sparrow BioAcoustics to expand its research and development as it is now building artificial intelligence (“AI”) models to be incorporated into the application. At this year’s Collision Conference in June, the start-up demoed the use of AI to identify common rhythmic and structural cardiac anomalies. As a next step, the company aims to build AI models to detect sound variations that could indicate dozens of heart diseases.

Another priority for Sparrow BioAcoustics is to generate market acceptance and adoption of its technology. The start-up is committed to showing users how the software can improve access to healthcare. Regulatory clearance also presents a major hurdle for the start-up as it will need regulatory approval in every country where its technology is used. Currently, Stethophone can be used by residents of the US and Ukraine.