One in 36 children in the US has autism, According to the CDC. Research shows that the earlier a child is diagnosed, the better their developmental outcome. EarliTec Diagnostics just raised new capital to expand its system that helps clinicians diagnose children as young as 16 months.
The Atlanta-based startup’s FDA-cleared approach involves a child watching short videos and social interactions on a screen for 12 minutes while the device, using AI, tracks the child’s eye movements. According to EarliTec, children with autism will not focus on video in the same way that children without autism will.
The startup raised a $21.5 million Series B round, led by Nexus NeuroTech Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on backing companies creating solutions for brain disorders, and Venture Investors, a Midwestern venture fund that invests in healthcare companies . The startup’s technology is currently used by eight clinicians in six US states
EarliTec Diagnostics CEO Tom Ressemann told TechCrunch that traditional autism diagnoses involve three- or four-hour assessments that can have long waiting lists. EarliTec’s 12-minute test is designed to help clinicians reach a diagnosis faster, which helps them work with more children.
“You have to be able to work in their current workflow,” Ressemann said. “So with a test like ours, which is flexible where you have access, it could be in the child’s home, it could be in a clinic or a school, it’s a tablet, we can work in most workflows . A faster diagnosis is better for the child and the parent.”
The company plans to use the money to continue expanding its commercialization, Ressemann said. EarliTec currently works with children aged 16 months to 30 months and plans to put some of its fresh capital into research that could help the company expand the age group the system can diagnose. He also hopes the capital can help improve assessment and treatment options.
Ressemann, who was CEO at several other medical device startups before EarliTec, including Amphora Medical and Entellus Medical, said this fundraising was the most challenging and yet the most rewarding. He said that despite the prevalence of autism in the U.S., it’s still a difficult area to raise capital because only a few investors are interested in the space. But that is starting to change.
The reason this deal excited me so much was that there seems to be growing momentum and interest in the autism-focused healthcare space from VCs. before 2021, this was rarer.
The Autism Impact Fund closed a $60 million fund raise, 20% above its $50 million goal, this week. The Autism Impact Fund isn’t the only company investing in the space either. Divergent Ventures raised a $10 million fund in 2021 focused on early-stage companies in the neurodiversity space. EarliTec’s backer, Nexus NeuroTech Ventures, just launched in 2023.
Several startups in the space have also raised notable rounds. Cortica, which makes diagnostics and treatment plans, has raised more than $175 million in venture funding from companies including CVS Health Ventures and .406 Ventures. Forta, the family-based autism therapy, has raised more than $55 million from backers including Insight Partners and the Alumni Fund. Opya, a digital therapy platform for autism, has raised more than $19 million from backers including SoftBank’s Open Opportunity Fund.
Ressemann said the range of diagnosis and assessment tools and treatments has changed rapidly since he and his wife went through the diagnosis and treatment process years ago with their now 27-year-old son.
While it’s been great to see startups and entrepreneurial therapies and tools supporting children with autism, you always wonder why investors are becoming interested in backing solutions now — or why they weren’t before. I asked Ressemann what he thought, and he said awareness of the prevalence of the condition has made a big difference.
“Just a few years ago it was thought to be one in 1,000 children, now it’s one in 36,” Ressemann said. “That’s awareness.”
That makes a lot of sense. My mind always thought that the goal of awareness campaigns was for more people without the condition to understand its prevalence, but I hadn’t considered that more information out there would also help with more diagnoses, giving a more accurate picture of how many people have it. it really affects. With these numbers in hand, investors can see the overall addressable market and opportunities.
“There’s an attraction to the size and scale of the problem,” Ressemann said of the recent interest in VC. “Where there’s a big unmet need, there’s often interest in addressing it.”
Hopefully, investors will continue to care because more money going to startups like this one that can help children with developmental delays and disorders and that can get money from VCs seems like a great strategy for performance while improving the people’s life.
