Standard Bariatrics to be acquired | Abridge raises $12.5M

Cincinnati company Standard Bariatrics to be acquired

CINCINNATI, OH–Teleflex announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Standard Bariatrics and its powered stapling technology for bariatric surgery. There will be an upfront cash payment of $170 million at closing with additional consideration of up to $130 million that will be payable upon the achievement of certain commercial milestones. The deal is expected to close early in the fourth quarter of 2022. You can read our interview with Standard Bariatrics CEO Matt Sokovy from earlier this week.

Virtual care startup raises $15M

NASHVILLE, TN–Virtual care coordination startup CareHarmony raised $15 million in series A funding. The funding will go toward furthering the development of its platform, which uses AI to analyze patient data and provide targeted care plan recommendations. Maverick Ventures led the fundraising, with participation from Nashville Capital Network.

Health AI company Abridge raises $12.5M

PITTSBURGH, PA–One of the more exciting new developments in medical technology is the emergence of artificial intelligence systems. Health tech startup Abridge is focused on medical conversation AI (analyzing and processing user input and matching it with the most appropriate response from a database of answers.) The company raised $12.5 million as part of a series A round. Led by Wittington Ventures, the round also had participation from existing investors including Union Square Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Pillar Venture Capital, and UPMC Enterprises. New investors who took part in the round included Turing Award winner Yoshua Bengio, and Whistler Capital.

Money for animal vaccine production

AMES, IA–Startup animal vaccine company Genvax Technologies has secured $6.5 million in series seed funding. The company focuses on advancements in mRNA vaccine production in regards to animal health. United Animal Health led the financing round with participation from Johnsonville Ventures, Iowa Corn Growers Association, Summit Agricultural Group and Ag Startup Engine.

Google Maps for the human body

PITTSBURGH, PA–Scientific teams in Pittsburgh and at Stanford will receive $20 million in renewed grants from the NIH to lead collaborations and provide data infrastructure to map and create a kind of cell-level Google Maps for the human body. The new funds are part of roughly $98 million in overall grants for the next four years of HuBMAP, a consortium composed of diverse research teams funded by the Common Fund at the NIH.