Medical device maker raises $90M in latest funding round

A Guilford-based company that has developed a portable magnetic resonance imaging system has raised $90 million in its latest financing round, funding that will increase the pace at which the technology can rolled out around the globe.

Among the investors participating in the financing round for Hyperfine Research is the former Google Ventures, now known simply as GV. Hyperfine, a privately-held company, got FDA approval to bring its Swoop MRI to market in February 2020.

Unlike stationary MRI suites, the portable system can be wheeled to the patient. According to Hyperfine, the Swoop MRI plugs into a standard electrical outlet and will interface with an Apple iPad.

The company’s founder, Dr. Jonathan Rothberg, said the new round of funding will help Hyperfine Research move forward with its mission to “democratize healthcare for all patients, everywhere.”

“We refuse to accept barriers to accessible, equitable care, and we intend to make the previously impossible both possible and affordable by delivering MR imaging to the patient, wherever that patient is,” Rothberg said.

Dr. Khan Siddiqui, the company’s chief medical officer, said the latest infusion of cash “will help us not only in the United States, but abroad.

“We have ambitious plans, but we’re not publicly disclosing them yet,” Siddiqui said when asked how many countries the company hopes to begin offering the Swoop MRI in by the end of this year.

This is the fourth round of financing the company has engaged in since Hyperfine Research was founded in 2014. Hyperfine Research’s previous funding round — in January 2017 — was for $60 million, according to online databases.

Siddiqui said Hyperfine Research officials won’t comment on the results of the two other funding rounds.

One of the U.S. medical centers already using the Swoop MRI is Tampa General in Florida. Chief of staff Dr. Krishna Nallamshetty said in a statement the device is especially helpful for patients who are critically ill or difficult to transport.

“When a baby or child gets an MRI, the parents have to stay outside and it’s frightening for everyone,” Nallamshetty said. “With the baby lying in a tunnel, parents feel far, far away. With this, the parent can be with the child as they are getting scanned, potentially eliminating the need for sedation.”