Koneksa, the leader in developing and implementing patient-centric digital biomarkers for drug development, announced today the completion of a $16M Series B financing round. The company plans to use the investment to expand the development of its digital platform for integrating wearables, sensors, and other patient-facing technologies into clinical research.
Since its launch in 2015, Koneksa has partnered with pharmaceutical and biotech companies to develop and implement digital biomarkers that support clinical development programs across therapeutic areas including neuroscience, respiratory, rare diseases, and oncology. Validation studies and other applications of Koneksa's technology have been published in leading peer-reviewed journals and presented at numerous scientific conferences and meetings. Koneksa offers a turnkey solution based on its unique SaaS platform and mobile application that facilitate the capture, monitoring, and analysis of patient-generated data collected at home and remotely. Koneksa's own mobile assessments and the ability to work with a variety of existing wearable sensors allow for a broad array of data inputs.
"We are delighted to work with such a strong team of investors and advisors who share our vision for the power of digital tools to accelerate the development of novel therapeutics," said Chris Benko, Koneksa Co-founder and CEO. "Digital biomarkers have as much potential to transform the development of new medicines as the molecular, imaging, and fluid biomarkers of the last two decades. This new capital will support a sustained investment in expanding their use and adoption in clinical research programs globally."
Spring Mountain Capital led the financing. "The demand for innovative methods to remotely collect patient data has never been greater," said Raymond L.M. Wong, Managing Director of Growth Equity at Spring Mountain Capital. "Koneksa's combined science and technology offering for digital biomarkers, which has already been tested in global trials, provides a unique value proposition to pharmaceutical and biotech companies. We are excited to support Koneksa's continued growth."
In addition to Spring Mountain Capital, new investors include McKesson Ventures, Novartis Pharma AG and MBX Capital. Koneksa's existing investors, which include Merck Global Health Innovation Fund and Waterline Ventures, also participated in the round.
"We are pleased to strategically partner with Koneksa on its journey to provide the essential technology platform required to implement and develop patient-centric digital endpoints, at scale, for clinical trials," said Rana Lonnen, Managing Director of digital investments at Novartis. "An effective platform is one that leverages strong scientific capabilities to gather data from devices and biometric data sources to develop clinically meaningful endpoints."
"The use of remote sensors, wearables, and new mobile technologies to better capture the patient experience is rapidly changing the way clinical trials are conducted," said Carrie Hurwitz Williams, Partner at McKesson Ventures. "Effective digital biomarkers will be an essential part of conducting trials in the future."
"Over the last five years Koneksa has built a leadership position in the validation of digital tools to support drug development. Technology is increasingly a critical component of how clinical trials are being designed, positioning the company for tremendous growth," said Robbie Greenglass, Managing Partner at Waterline Ventures. "We could not be more excited about the team that has come together to build the company and transform the way that new medicines reach the patients who need them."
Koneksa intends to use the proceeds from this Series B financing to expand their investment in internal R&D to develop and validate digital endpoints, advance the capabilities of the Koneksa digital biomarker platform, establish strategic partnerships, and expand its geographical footprint.
About Koneksa
Koneksa is a leading patient-centric digital biomarker company for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries that develops end-to-end solutions for remotely collected clinical data. Koneksa supports agile decision-making in drug development and market strategy. By delivering integrated solutions for efficient trial designs that produce more meaningful data, Koneksa aims to revolutionize effect detection in clinical research. Learn more atkoneksahealth.com.
About Spring Mountain Capital
Founded in 2001 by John L. Steffens and located in New York City, Spring Mountain Capital, LP is a private investment management firm that focuses on alternative asset investing. SMC's Growth Equity Group provides expansion capital to companies that are capitalizing on breakthrough innovations, paradigm shifts, or fundamental market or behavioral changes. The Growth Equity Group at SMC focuses on two sectors of the U.S. economy undergoing the most change and with the highest growth potential: technology-enabled and healthcare businesses. For more information, visit: smcgrowthcapital.com
