Astarte Medical Secures $7.6 Million in Series A-1 Financing to Advance its Technology for Improving Preterm Infant Outcomes

YARDLEY, Pa., Sept. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Astarte Medical, a clinical intelligence company leveraging data and digital tools to improve health outcomes in the first 1000 days, today announced it has secured $7.6 million in Series A-1 financing. Investors in the round include Viking Global Investors LP, Lunsford Capital, Ben Franklin Technology Partners, OCA Ventures, Next Act Fund, Capita3, Leatherneck Ventures, and Social Venture Circle. The Company will use the funds to scale the sales of NICUtrition®, its EMR-integrated, clinical decision support platform addressing critical, unmet needs in the NICU like malnutrition, suboptimal growth, and racial disparities in care.

Every year, 1 in 10 babies are born prematurely - more than 380,000 in the United States. Thanks to advancements in medical care, babies born very prematurely ? even before 25 weeks of pregnancy - are more likely to survive today than ever before. The third trimester of pregnancy is the most critical period for a baby's growth and brain development, and many preterm infants spend this entire critical period of growth in the NICU. However, feeding these tiny babies is complex and wrought with challenges for the NICU team.

"As seed stage investors focused on technology's ability to put more in the hands of clinicians for the betterment of patients, we can hardly imagine a more lasting impact than that of the lives of babies in the NICU," said Jennifer Hartt, Managing Director, Healthcare Investment Group, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern PA. "As an investor who is also a mother who once had a preterm infant in the NICU, I understand what it means to have a fragile baby who we hope grows up to have a meal just be a meal. For these babies, however, every feeding and its composition and timing is of critical importance and they are handling feedings often months before their bodies were designed to do. Astarte Medical is tackling these exact issues with real time tools and analysis. The impacts can be life-long to get this right, with these babies. That is the kind of impact we care about and that we know hospitals and their NICUs will care about as well."

In connection with the financing round, Wendy Slatery, a seasoned sales executive and recognized commercial leader in healthcare with extensive experience in existing and market entry solutions, will join Astarte Medical's Board of Directors. Ms. Slatery currently serves as Chief Commercial Officer at Aspect Imaging. Throughout her career, she led improvements in financial performance, expanded industry presence, and created new markets for existing portfolios within the NICU and other areas of care.

"NICUtrition can reduce the complexity and variability in preterm infant feeding and, with this round of capital, we're focusing our efforts on expanding our customer base and improving the impact we can have for infants and their families," said Tracy Warren, CEO and Co-founder, Astarte Medical. "Having signed contracts and implementions underway at our initial NICU sites, we are excited to announce the addition of Wendy Slatery to our Board to help provide strategic direction and insight to these efforts."

About Astarte Medical
Astarte Medical is a clinical intelligence company using software and predictive analytics to improve outcomes in the first 1,000 days of life, from conception to age two, with an initial focus on preterm infants. NICUtrition^® by Astarte Medical supports feeding protocols, practice and decision-making in the neonatal ICU with a suite of digital tools designed to standardize feeding, optimize nutrition and assess the provision of equitable care. Learn more at www.AstarteMedical.com.

This project is supported by the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern PA, an initiative of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development funded by the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority.

Media Contact
Sarah Block
[email protected]

SOURCE Astarte Medical