Qualtrics acquires Press Ganey Forsta, Century Health partners with Balboa Nephrology, Nilo Therapeutics raises $101M

Healthtech and edtech are two of the fastest growing sectors, with the healthtech market size to reach $3.1 billion by 2033, while the global education technology market size is projected to reach $348.41 billion by 2030.

Each week will do a roundup of the top news, fundings, and IPOs from these two sectors.

Top News  

• Ada, a startup in employability education, and Vivae, a joint venture between Vivo and Ânima Educação that offers a mobile platform for continuing education in digital careers, merged. Ada will be the joint company’s B2B segment and Vivae its B2C segment
• Qualtrics acquired healthcare survey software firm Press Ganey Forsta, combining Qualtrics’ technology with Press Ganey Forsta’s data, benchmarking and healthcare expertise

AI News

• Chiesi, a research-focused biopharmaceutical group with a strong heritage in respiratory care, and Samay, developer of AI-powered wearable solutions for the diagnosis and management of chronic respiratory diseases, partnered to develop novel algorithms to detect small airway disease, an early pathological feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Century Health, a company applying AI to real-world data to accelerate research, and Balboa Nephrology, an independent nephrology practice, partnered to make real-world data usable for clinical research and drug development in chronic kidney disease
• Emagene Life, a healthcare company integrating advanced functional medicine, longevity science, and artificial intelligence, partnered with The Institute for Functional Medicine to accelerate functional medicine, longevity, and AI-driven healthcare
• Waystar, a provider of leading healthcare payment software, acquired Iodine Software, an AI-powered revenue cycle solutions
• Smarter Technologies, an automation and insights platform for healthcare efficiency, acquired Pieces Technologies, a physician-led AI company focused on improving care delivery through automation
• Switchboard Health, creators of a digital health platform connecting patients with high-value specialty care, acquired Conduce Health, an AI-driven solution for personalized multispecialty care
• Intel announced its AI-Ready School Initiative to prepare students to become responsible AI solution builders, a commitment that’s an extension of Intel’s participation in The White House AI Education pledge

Late Stage Fundings:

Healthtech:

• TORL BioTherapeutics, a clinical stage biotechnology company discovering and developing new antibody-based immunotherapies to improve and extend the lives of patients with cancer worldwide, raised a $96 million Series C financing from undisclosed investors
• Sensi.AI, a provider of care Intelligence, raised a $45 million Series C funding round led by Qumra Capital with continued support from existing investors Zeev Ventures, Insight Partners, Entrée Capital, Flint Capital, and Jibe Ventures
• Affinia Therapeutics, a gene therapy company with a pipeline of adeno-associated virus gene therapies for cardiovascular and neurological diseases, raised a $40 million Series C financing led by New Enterprise Associates with participation from new investor Eli Lilly & Company, and existing investors Alexandria Venture Investments, Atlas Venture, Avidity Partners, F-Prime, GV, Mass General Brigham Ventures, and Perceptive Advisors
• Nava Benefits, a provider of employee benefits brokerage services with a focus on affordable healthcare, raised a $30 million Series C round led by Thrive Capital, with participation from Glynn Capital, GV, Quiet Capital, Gaingels, People Tech Partners, Fenwick, Alumni Ventures, and Pascal Ventures

Early Stage Fundings  

Healthtech:

• Foundation Health, a healthcare technology company delivering AI-powered infrastructure spanning pharmacy operations, care coordination, and direct-to-patient delivery, raised a $20 million Series A funding round bed by Define Ventures, with participation from Vanderbilt University, Intermountain Ventures, and existing investors
• Nilo Therapeutics, a biotechnology company harnessing neural circuits to restore immune homeostasis in disease, raised a $101 million Series A financing led by The Column Group, DCVC Bio, and Lux Capital, with participation from the Gates Foundation and Alexandria Venture Investments
• NanoPhoria Bioscience, a biotech company developing a nano-in-micro & lung-to-heart delivery platform based on inorganic calcium phosphate nanoparticles, raised an €83.5 million Series A financing round led by XGEN Venture, Sofinnova Partners, and CDP Venture Capital, with Panakès Partners also investing and one other undisclosed investor joining the round
• Trogenix, a biotech company dedicated to developing innovative cancer therapies, raised a Series A financing of $95 million led by IQ Capital with participation from founding investor 4BIO Capital, returning investors Cancer Research Horizons, the Brain Tumor Investment Fund, and new investors Eli Lilly and Company, Meltwind, LongeVC, and Calculus Capital, as well as undisclosed private investors
• Heidi, a company building an AI Care Partner to expand clinical capacity by automating administrative work, raised a $65 million Series B funding round led by Point72 Private Investments with participation from continuing investors Blackbird, Headline, and Latitude, the growth fund of Phoenix Court
• MediView XR, an augmented reality surgical navigation, guidance, and image fusion platform, raised a $24 million Series A funding round led by GE HealthCare with investment from Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Edge Ventures, the investment arm of Emplify Health, and JobsOhio Growth Capital Fund
• Oath Surgical, a provider of AI-based, value-based, network of surgeon-owned, tech-powered surgery centers, raised a $24 million Series A led by FPV Ventures with participation from McKesson Ventures and existing investors OSE, Black Opal Ventures, Tau Ventures, and Rogue VC
• AeroRx Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing proprietary nebulized combination therapies for chronic respiratory diseases, raised a $21 million Series A financing led by Avalon BioVentures, with participation from Correlation Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, and others
• Serenis, a company dedicated to improving access to mental health and wellbeing services in Italy, raised €12 million in a round led by Angelini Ventures, alongside CDP Venture Capital
• Mindset Medical, a digital health company providing software-only, contactless vital sign monitoring, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Xcellerant Ventures

Edtech:

• Invigilator, a remote assessment platform, raised $11 million in a round led by Kaltroco

Seed Fundings  

Healthtech:

• Kneu Health, a company that uses smartphones to remotely monitor Parkinson’s disease and dementia, raised $5.6 million in seed funding in a round co-led by Oxford Science Enterprises and Cedars-Sinai, with participation from Social Impact Enterprises, JIMCO, G.K. Goh Ventures and SXSW London
• Datamonk, an agentic AI-powered platform automating medical imaging data migrations, raised $1.9 million in pre-seed funding in a round led by Healthy.Capital and Nina Capital, with participation from angel investors including Jeroen Tas and Harm-Jan Wessels
• Zingage, an AI care delivery platform for home care, raised $12.5 million in seed funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners, alongside TQ Ventures, South Park Commons, WndrCo, and executives from Ramp
• Hipp Health, an AI-native platform that streamlines administrative work, clinical documentation, and compliance for behavioral health practices, raised a $6.2 million seed round led by RTP Global with participation from Swift Ventures, Rackhouse Venture Capital, and Difference Partners
• The Medical Travel Company, which links patients from the UK with medical care in India, raised $4.5 million in a round led by VC Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from 4CAST
• Eradivir, a biotech company that aims to develop a non-immunological targeting agent for use against the virus that causes COVID-19, raised $10 million from undisclosed investors 
• Neuronoff, a clinical-stage medical device company pioneering minimally invasive pain treatments, raised a $4.5 million round from undisclosed investors
• August AI, a healthtech platform focused on building an AI-powered digital health companion, raised $3 million in funding from Accel and Claypond Capital
• Fellos, an online healthcare platform for men, raised over €2 million from Dutch Operator Fund, Capital Mills, and several healthcare professionals
• Nuxera AI, which aims to streamline hospital workflows through advanced AI systems designed specifically for Arabic-speaking medical environments, raised $2.5 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Sanabil Venture Studio, in partnership with Redesign Health

Edtech:

• BiMA, which designs electronic devices and software aimed at enriching kids’ reading, raised €500,000 in pre-seed funding led by Antler, with participation from angel investors, including the Oetinger Publishing Group

Going public

• Phoenix Education Partners, the owner of the University of Phoenix, priced its U.S. initial public offering within its marketed range, raising $136 million

Fund news

• Lauxera Capital, a Paris-based growth-stage investment firm, closed a €400 million health tech fund.  Named Lauxera Growth II, the fund aims to transform Europe’s healthtech innovators into global leaders through a hands-on, operational approach

Policy and government

• The City of New York sued tech giants headquartered in California over allegations that their platforms have created a youth mental health crisis. The city, along with its school districts and health department, alleges that “gross negligence” on the part of Meta, Alphabet, Snap, and ByteDance has gotten kids hooked on social media, which has created a “public nuisance” that is placing a strain on the city’s resources
• Several higher education groups filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas, alleging the policy could cause “catastrophic setbacks” to research in the U.S. The American Association of University Professors and labor unions representing tens of thousands of higher ed workers joined groups representing the healthcare, K-12 and religious sectors to challenge the policy, which the Trump administration rolled out last month. They argued that the fee would likely result in “sharp cutbacks in the employment of highly talented foreign workers and severe setbacks for university research, graduate programs, and clinical care.”

Random news

• Dick Van Dyke and his wife Arlene took part in the Vandy High Tea event in Malibu, California. The event, which featured songs and stories from Dick, Arlene, Dick’s singing group The Vantastic, raised funds to benefit The Van Dyke Endowment of the Arts and the Dick Van Dyke Museum, which is currently in development. During the event, Dick’s forthcoming 100th birthday on Dec. 13 came up. “That’s right. I’m not officially a hundred until December,” Dick said. “Two months. Two months.”  Joking, he added, “It’d be funny if I didn’t make it.”

(Image source: rand.org)