SwipeSense, a startup that uses a combination of software and connected sensors to stop infections from spreading in hospitals, just landed a $10.6 million Series B2 round of funding.
The startup will use the funding to improve its flagship technology, explore new use cases and continue growing its team.
Co-founder and CEO Mert Iseri said the funding follows a period of significant growth.
“The single biggest thing that’s happened in the past few years at SwipeSense is that we demonstrated our solution in a number of hospitals where we were able to improve hand hygiene and reduce hospital-acquired infections,” said Iseri. “The data speaks for itself.”
That success has helped SwipeSense get its solution into an increasing number of healthcare facilities. Iseri said more than 20 hospitals currently use SwipeSense, and that his company has grown to 42 employees. He expects that number to reach 50 over the next few months.
Those hires will be primarily in technology and product.
Founded by Iseri and VP of product Yuri Malina in 2011 while the pair were students at Northwestern University, SwipeSense helps healthcare providers track whether employees are following best practices for hand hygiene. To do so, the startup deploys a network of sensors near sanitizer dispensers and handwashing stations.
In combination with SwipeSense’s software and trackable ID badges worn by employees, these sensors let administrators get granular data on how staff members are doing.
Hand hygiene can make a big difference for patient outcomes. According to the Center for Disease Control, 75,000 U.S. patients with healthcare-associated infections died during hospitalization in 2011. Improved routines can reduce the rate of some of these infections by more than 70 percent, according to the agency.
SwipeSense is also adapting its technology for use beyond hand hygiene tracking. New uses include getting metrics on the rounds nurses make through a hospital and putting sensors on assets like hospital beds, IV pumps and wheelchairs.
Iseri said these new applications were inspired by how early clients used his company’s technology.
“Combined with our ID badges, our location beacons create a full map of the hospital, helping you know when people are entering a room,” he said. “People would just put these badges on their hospital beds so they could tell when patients were being moved around the hospital.”
In addition to improving patient safety and reducing the time spent looking for lost equipment, this can help hospitals reduce their costs. Iseri said a hospital with 100 beds loses $50,000 worth of equipment annually.
Iseri’s ultimate goal is to lay the groundwork for a connected hospital with minimized risks for human error and oversights.
To work toward that mission, SwipeSense is bolstering its leadership team. The company recently brought on Michael Cruz and Katy De Leon as vice presidents of engineering and marketing, respectively. Cruz is the former VP of engineering at Trunk Club, while De Leon previously served as VP of marketing at Narrative Science. The company also hired a new VP of sales, healthtech veteran Stephen Williamson.
“These are incredible leaders with phenomenal track records, and I’m humbled that they have decided to join our adventure,” said Iseri.
Eclipse Ventures, an investment firm specializing in startups that combine software, hardware and data, led SwipeSense’s Series B2. Sandbox Industries and a number of existing investors joined the Palo Alto, CA-based firm in the deal.
SwipeSense has raised $23.3 million in funding to date.
