Short takes: Intuition Robotics gains $25M funding, Akili Interactive abandons digital Rx therapeutics, NextGen goes private for $1.8B, ATA’s DC advocacy ‘fly in’ + launches new tools on disparities

Catching up on the catchup…

Israel-based Intuition Robotics raised $25 million. The unlettered round closed at end of August with $20 million in venture capital plus $5 million in venture debt. According to the release, the funding was led by Woven Capital, the growth fund of Toyota, with participation from Toyota Ventures, OurCrowd, Western Technology Investment, and additional investors. Intuition Robotics is the developer of ElliQ, an interactive desktop companion robot targeted to older adults and those with assistive needs, last covered in their 2.0 update last December and their involvement with New York’s Office for the Aging [TTA 25 May 22 and WSHU]. The Area Agency on Aging of Broward County, the Olympic Area Agency on Aging, and California’s Agency on Aging in Area 4 have also worked with Intuition Robotics on distributing the companion to older adults in their programs. According to the company, older adults who successfully engage with it average over 30 daily interactions with ElliQ and reduce the devastation of loneliness for 95% of users. 

Akili Interactive exits prescription digital therapeutics (PDT), pivots to consumer, drops 40% of staff. Much like Better Therapeutics and the now sliced-up Pear Therapeutics, the company realized that PDT was not a winning strategy for its interactive video game-based therapy for adults with ADHD. The EndeavorOTC version, released in June, is available via a subscription (SaaS) through the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store for $24.99 for a monthly plan or $129.00 for an annual plan. According to their release, Akili will pursue regulatory approval for over-the-counter labeling of its treatment products. Akili is yet another cracked SPAC facing a reckoning, currently trading on Nasdaq at $0.66 from its debut in August 2022 at $14 with a quick fall to $4.   HIStalk 15 Sept, Rock Health Weekly Newsletter

NextGen acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo for $1.8 billion, ending 41 years of public market trading. The offer price is $23.95 per share in cash, an over 46% premium to the Nasdaq share price on 22 August. NextGen Healthcare is an EHR with population health and practice management features designed primarily for specialty medical practices. NextGen went public as Quality Systems an eon ago in 1982Release, FierceHealthcare

And…the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) celebrates the third annual Telehealth Awareness Week (17-23 September) with a telehealth advocacy ‘fly in’ to meet with Congressional offices and Members in Washington DC on 18-19 September, plus their three tools to eliminate disparities in telehealth services developed by ATA’s Advisory Group on Using Telehealth to Eliminate Disparities and Inequities. They are a Digital Infrastructure Disparities Score and Map, an Economic and Social Value-Added Calculator, and a toolkit with all ATA and advisory group-developed resources. Releases 19 July (fly-in) and 18 Sept (disparities tools)

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