Start-up iBeat raises $1.5m in seed round for heart monitor watch

Early-stage heart monitor developer iBeat said yesterday it raised $1.5 million in an oversubscribed seed funding to support its heart-monitoring smartwatch.

The round was led by Maveron, Subtraction Capital and Correlation Ventures and joined by Band of Angels, industrial design firm Ammunition and other select individuals, the San Francisco, Calif.-based company said.

“The interest we’ve had in iBeat has been remarkable. We were oversubscribed for our seed funding and are thrilled to see such high caliber investors who also recognize the potential of this product. Cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in the U.S., and 9 out of 10 people who have a cardiac arrest incident without intervention die. Our vision is to lower this number by bringing to market a beautiful and sleek smartwatch that will quicken the delivery of care and help save lives,” iBeat founder Ryan Howard said in a press release.

The company is building a “breakthrough” wearable that monitors and analyzes users heart activity around the clock. The smartwatch is designed to instantly alert the user or designated individuals in the event of an emergency, according to the company’s website.

“iBeat has the combination of a proven entrepreneur coupled with a massive consumer market that is primed for change. We’re incredibly excited about how their product can affect the lives of millions of people, and the potential to disrupt the multi-billion dollar PERS industry,” Maveron GP David Wu said in prepared remarks.

Funding from the round will support the recruiting of “high-profile talent,” to expand the company’s infrastructure and operations and to commercialize its heart-monitoring smartwatch.

“Ryan and the team he recruited from Practice Fusion had immense success building the largest patient physician platform in the U.S. iBeat is the kind of company we want to be part of — a visionary team bringing fresh ideas to an evolving technology that promises to save lives,” Band of Angels chair Ian Sobieski said in a prepared statement.

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