Virtual reality-enabled clinical training company Health Scholars has raked in $17 million in Series B funding. This new cash raise comes from investors including Arboretum Ventures, Venture Investors, Capital Midwest Fund, OSF HealthCare and other family office seed funders. 

WHAT THEY DO

The company uses VR to simulate a variety of clinical situations including operation, resuscitation and obstetric scenarios. Learners and teachers can keep track of progress and schedule virtual sessions. The system also gives statistics about department utilization and trends. 

In April the company unveiled its VR training simulation to help clinicians practice their advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) skills. The app was built to follow the American Heart Association’s guidelines and programs and incorporates a voice recognition component. 

The tool can also be used to train clinicians in potential emergency situations, such as a fire in the OR. 

WHAT IT’S FOR 

The new funds will be put towards expanding the customer base of the product to the hospital and public safety market. It will also be using the money to expand its VR library and develop more platforms for enterprise customers. 

“Closing our Series B financing is a huge vote of confidence from both the market and investor community of Health Scholars’ strategy and value,” Cole Sandau, CEO at Health Scholars, said in a statement. “Having $17M in new capital to expand our focus on patient safety and quality issues will provide our customers with truly transformative training and virtual simulation technologies that will drive improved patient outcomes."

MARKET SNAPSHOT

This isn’t the first startup to use VR as a training tool. In fact, millions of dollars have been invested in the space over the last few years. In the fall FundamentalVR, a digital VR medical training tool, closed a $5 million Series A round. Last February Vicarious Surgical, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based startup that combines VR with surgical robotics, closed a $10 million funding round. Osso VR scored $2 million back in 2017. 

ON THE RECORD 

“While healthcare provider education has evolved in the last two decades, improving healthcare outcomes requires a transformative technology platform that can readily scale to meet with the needs of large groups of providers. Health Scholars provides the transformative platform and Arboretum Ventures is very pleased to participate in this investment round,” Dr. Tom Shehab, managing director at Arboretum Ventures, said in a statement.