Avive Solutions, Inc., the developer of world’s most advanced connected automated external defibrillator (AED) – the Avive Connect AEDⓇ, has officially secured a funding worth $56.5 million growth in equity financing. Led by Questa Capital and Laerdal Million Lives Fund (LMLF), the round went on to see RC Capital, Eckuity Capital, and several others joining in as new investors. As for what Avive will do with these freshly-raised funds, the answer is rooted in its plan to accelerate commercial developments across the United States, as well as expand its team with top talent. To understand the significance of the given development, though, we must acknowledge how Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is currently a massive healthcare challenge for the US, with over 430,000 lives lost each year to this condition alone. Furthermore, for the affected group, survivability goes down by 7-10% against every minute they go without a shock from a defibrillator and high-quality CPR. Making matters worse is the fact that EMS (Emergency Medical Services) typically takes 8-12 minutes to arrive on scene, something which puts an even greater emphasis upon AEDs. However, at the moment, substandard connectivity with AEDs and the inability of emergency and citizen responders to identify where AEDs are located, even when devices are nearby, has triggered a reality where only 4% of SCA events receive ADE application before EMS’ arrival. This combination of EMS’ inefficiency and low ADE connectivity, on its part, translates to a shockingly low 10% nationwide survival rate for SCA patients.
Talk about how Avive’s proprietary solution addresses the stated conundrum, it does so by leveraging Cellular, WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth technologies to establish a robust connectivity, which powers several of company’s software solutions. Markedly enough, through one such solution in Intelligent Response Platform™, Avive supports a program called the 4-Minute City™. The 4-Minute City program brings to the fore a unique approach to drive the improvement of survival rates throughout the United States. In practice, the approach in question involves using historical SCA data to strategically deploy hundreds of Avive Connect AEDs throughout a community. Once implemented, these communities would call upon the software to network those AEDs into their 911 and public safety ecosystem, using Avive’s partnership with intelligent safety company, RapidSOS, to deliver on that promise. Anyway, the company’s wider vision in the context of such an effort is establishing a well-connected network of willing responders with AEDs that can be audibly alerted by 911, and dispatched with a map on the device, and via an SMS to the nearest SCA emergency. Already present across Cumberland County, PA; Jackson, TN; Forsyth County, GA and Carrollton, TX, with more locations set to join the pack soon, Avive’s technology is currently being used by the likes of Fortune 100 companies, Federal Government agencies, large universities, K-12 school districts, national gym chains, and many others.
“Avive is poised to disrupt a critical, but innovation-starved market – automated external defibrillators,” said Ryan Drant, Managing Partner at Questa Capital and Avive board member. “The visionary team led by Sameer Jafri, Rory Beyer, and Moseley Andrews has fundamentally transformed AEDs by integrating seamless, wireless connectivity. This connectivity not only allows for remote device monitoring and management, but crucially, can enable much faster response times to emergent cardiac arrest events.”