Following investments from Dignity Health and Honor Health Systems, NeoLight’s newest round of funding will accelerate home-based growth. Funds will also be used to expand NeoLight’s business globally and finance the development of other neonatal products.
Behind NeoLight’s latest round are previous investors; professional quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and his wife Ashley; as well as a selection of new investors. To date, NeoLight has raised roughly $15 million.
Like others in the healthcare space, NeoLight noticed hospital equipment purchases slow significantly this past spring. But while budgets were refocused to deal with Covid-19, babies continued to be born. Parents pushed to be able to take their newborns home as soon as possible in order to quarantine them.
Complicating this are conditions like jaundice. According to NeoLight founder Vivek Kopparthi, jaundice occurs in about 60% of newborns and can lead to brain damage or even death when left untreated.
“The challenge is that the doctor may not know if treatment is necessary until the newborn is three or four days old, often after the baby has gone home from the hospital,” Kopparthi explains.
With hospital budgets and clinical teams stretched thin, Kopparthi and NeoLight recognized the need to treat these newborns at home. NeoLight developed phototherapy beds to enable parents to care for their newborns at home, giving them the care they need while following Covid-19 safety precautions.
To provide at-home jaundice therapy to newborns, NeoLight is working with major hospitals, pediatric clinics, and medical equipment companies across the U.S. Investors Ben and Ashley Roethlisberger are leveraging their networks to get the word out on social media.
NeoLight was recently contacted by a mother who had recently given birth to a baby with Rhesus disease. Mothers with this condition develop antibodies during pregnancy that destroy the baby’s own blood cells. This mother’s baby contracted severe jaundice after birth and spent three weeks in the neonatal ICU.
Clinicians couldn’t find a phototherapy device from their current suppliers that was powerful enough to send the baby home and continue treatment. While looking for alternatives online, the mother spotted NeoLight on her social media. Within hours of her contact, NeoLight delivered a Skylife device to the NICU that was treating her baby.
“As we have seen everywhere, Skylife is highly effective and transportable,” Kopparthi points out. “The parents were able to take their newborn home to continue the Skylife therapy with the family.” And even if Covid-19 weren’t a concern, wouldn’t every parent?
About NeoLight
NeoLight is a babytech company that delivers smart, integrated, family-friendly products that empower parents to confidently care for their newborns. For more information, please refer to https://www.theneolight.com/
CONTACT INFORMATION
Arik Anderson, CEO
arik@theneolight.com
248-631-8590
SOURCE: NeoLight
https://www.accesswire.com/612663/NeoLight-Raises-7M-to-Enable-Home-Based-Neonatal-Care