Singapore, 10 March 2021: Singapore-based healthtech startup Mesh Bio has raised USD1.8 million (SGD2.4 million) in Seed funding, led by deep tech investors Elev8.vc and Enterprise Singapore’s investment arm Seeds Capital, along with Citrine Capital and Tael Partners. The funds will be used to accelerate the rollout of Mesh Bio’s solution, DARA® – a predictive analytics and clinical workflow automation solution for healthcare providers – in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. The funding will also support clinical partnerships and collaborations.
Mesh Bio was founded in 2018 by healthcare and technology veterans – Andrew Wu, formerly Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Clearbridge Biomedics (now known as Biolidics), Arsen Batagov, former A*Star bioinformatics scientist, and Dr Melvin Heng, physician and hospital administrator.
Andrew Wu, Mesh Bio Co-founder and CEO said, “Chronic diseases are increasing in Asia, making patient management increasingly complex and challenging. For instance, diabetes prevalence in Malaysia is the highest in Southeast Asia at 16.8 percent. In Singapore it is 14.2 percent and in Thailand, 8.3 percent1. The situation is compounded by the lack of doctors, especially specialists, forcing general practitioners – lacking specialist training in endocrinology – to manage these challenging patient cases.
“Our vision is to deliver cutting-edge digital solutions to address challenges in patient management and rising chronic diseases in the region. Through the support of Elev8.vc, Seeds Capital, Citrine Capital and Tael Partners, we see tremendous opportunity to help healthcare providers cope with the rise in cases and simultaneously, improve patient treatment and outcomes with DARA®,” he added.
DARA® draws in real-time, multidimensional patient data: health history, lab tests and medical images. DARA® delivers a patient-centric visual report, helping doctors counsel patients and allowing patients to understand their laboratory reports, and the diseases they live with.
In-built with clinical best practices, guidelines and holistic patient assessments, DARA® helps doctors leverage knowledge from the global community of healthcare practitioners. Its risk assessment algorithms are compliant with local clinical practice guidelines. Other key features include: multiple diseases in one report;
DARA® has helped healthcare providers in Singapore analyse patient data quickly and effectively, increasing report generation by five times and reducing human error. The solution has delivered over 60 percent in operational savings and 99 percent in revenue growth.
Digital health technologies are increasingly in the spotlight since Covid-19, securing greater investor interest. In 2020, the Asia Pacific digital health ecosystem closed USD 6.14 billion in venture capital funding, 25 percent higher than 20192. The top funded cluster was medical diagnostics.
Aditya Mathur, Founder & Managing Director of Elev8.vc said, “Rapidly ageing populations across the world deserve far better healthcare. Mesh Bio’s predictive analytics offers a clinically validated technology to detect and support chronic diseases before they even occur. We couldn’t be prouder to support Andrew, Arsen and Dr Melvin’s mission to provide far better patient outcomes for all.”
Geoffrey Yeo, General Manager of Seeds Capital said, “Mesh Bio’s overarching strategy and approach is aligned with our National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy for the healthcare sector, which seeks to leverage AI to improve chronic disease prediction and management. By enhancing clinical decision support at primary care, this could improve prevention and management of diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular complications. We are pleased to support Mesh Bio as it ramps up the roll-out of its unique solution in Singapore and across the region.”
According to Deloitte, predictive analytics will play a central role in improving the health and reducing mortality rates across age groups. The benefits it offers are significant, including improving operational management, assisting and enhancing the accuracy of diagnosis and treatment, as well as advantages in cohort treatment and epidemiology to assess potential risk factors for public health.
In 2019, Mesh Bio became the first Asian startup selected for Germany-based Startup Creasphere’s digital health acceleration program, powered by Roche Diagnostics and Silicon Valley-based global innovation platform and venture fund Plug and Play.
About Mesh Bio
Mesh Bio is a digital health startup focused on addressing the growing global clinical burden of metabolic diseases due to aging population, and challenges in care delivery. Mesh Bio develops clinical decision support analytics and automation solutions for management of chronic disease, such as cardiovascular disease. These solutions enable data driven care delivery, improving patient engagement, and health outcomes.
Mesh Bio is founded by a group of healthcare professionals with deep experience in diagnostics, clinical software, primary care and hospital management. The company was the 1st Asian startup to be selected for the prestigious Startup Creasphere digital health acceleration program by Roche Diagnostics and Plug and Play.
About Elev8.vc
Elev8.vc is a Singapore-based early stage deep-tech VC fund. The fund invests in and supports promising early-stage enterprise companies and founders who develop incredible new technologies and have ambitious goals to redefine how business gets done. Elev8.vc’s key investment areas are in the fields of Smart Mobility, Medtech, and Complex Computing. As a high-conviction, high-support fund, the team at Elev8.vc looks to continue supporting the audacious founders that are leading the change in these enterprise sectors.
About Seeds Capital
As the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore, Seeds Capital co-invests with independent investors into innovative Singapore-based startups with strong intellectual content and global market potential. Post-investment, Seeds Capital helps startups commercialize and expand globally through leveraging on the expertise and strategic networks of co-investment partners in areas such as technology translation, commercialization and market expansion. Through co-investments, Seeds Capital aims to catalyze investments into nascent and strategic sectors, including Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering, Health & Biomedical Sciences, Urban Solutions & Sustainability, and Services & Digital Economy.
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