Halifax medical device company Densitas has raised $250,000 in venture capital funding from Innovacorp as part of a funding round including private angel investors.
The company will use the funds to finance the launch of its first product, which enhances breast screening by assessing the density of the breast being examined. Breast density is a key determinant in a patient’s risk of contracting breast cancer, so Densitas helps doctors understand a patient’s risk profile.
"The investment Innovacorp has made in Densitas is timely," said CEO Mohamed Abdolell said in a statement. "We're on the cusp of delivering our first commercial product, DM-Density, and at the same time developing follow-on products. This investment will give us added financial assurance on our path to commercialization."
The provincial innovation agency announced the funding in a statement Wednesday. In an interview, Abdolell declined to state how much money the company has raised in total in this round.
Innovacorp's I-3 Draws 188 Submissions
DM-Density is pretty well the product that Abdolell envisaged when he began the company four years ago. He began to develop an automated system to generate real-time breast density measurements each time a woman receives a screening mammogram.
Women with very dense breasts can be as much as six times more likely to contract breast cancer than those with fatty breasts. So, a timely, accurate reading of density can help women and their doctors determine risk levels and how regularly a woman should have follow-up screening mammograms or if she should be directed to diagnostic mammography.
“When we started, it was focused on solving one particular problem and that was a clinical problem,” said Abdolell in an interview Thursday. “It has become clear that breast density is a problem throughout mammography.”
The company is now planning to launch a suite of products with DM-Density forming the foundation of the group. The company’s website details a few of the coming iterations – DM-Dose, a radiation dose-reporting solution for mammography; DM-Analytics, which processes the vast amount of data generated by mammography; DM-Workflow, which is a mammography workflow solution; and DM-Research, which helps to process digital mammograms used in research.
“There is a whole suite of products that will come later,” said Abdollel, adding there are some projects he’s not ready to discuss publicly. He highlighted the potential of analyzing the data generated through mammograms.
In May, Densitas received certification from the International Standards Organization, or ISO, which means customers in international markets are assured that Densitas products meet national standards throughout their lifespan.
Densitas plans to sell its products in Europe, Canada and the U.S. and sees Europe as a key market. The company has yet to announce regulatory approval in any of these markets, though Abdolell said he hopes to have announcements on “our ability to sell” soon.
"At Innovacorp, we foster innovative startups in our province that have the potential to change the world," said Lidija Marušić, life sciences investment manager at Innovacorp. "Densitas is developing unique technologies that have the potential to impact millions of women, in Nova Scotia and worldwide. This home-grown innovation promises to have a significant impact on clinical outcomes and appropriateness of care.”
Disclaimer: Innovacorp is a customer of Entrevestor.
