Vida takes a lungful of investment

Vida Diagnostics, a healthcare IT spin-out of Iowa University, has raised $2m. The investment was made by Next Level Ventures, a capital venture firm launched in February 2014 and focused exclusively on Iowa companies. Vida is the third company to be backed by Next Level.

Concurrently, Vida also announced it has secured $500,000 from Iowa state in the form of a loan.

Spun out in 2004, Vida commercialises software which can detect various lung diseases, such as asthma, by analysing medical images and extrapolate a treatment plan from that data. It can also measure the efficiency of a treatment.

The company will use the investments to increase sales, improve its product and expand its team from a current 18 staff.

Susan Woods, president and chief executive at Vida, said: “We have a lot of patients with pulmonary disease that don’t always react the same to different treatments. We are trying to target the right treatment for the right time. Without this kind of access to funding, a company like Vida is forced with the question of whether or not it leaves the state.”