Viz AI passes the $1bn valuation mark

Companies working on diagnostic systems using artificial intelligence and machine learning are having a bit of a moment, with the FDA recently clearing products intended to detect colon polyps and triage aneurysms. It is appropriate, then, that medtech’s newest unicorn is an AI company. The $100m series D round closed by Viz AI yesterday, from investors including Google’s venture arm GV, gives the group a valuation of $1.2bn. Viz AI has already launched products designed to help detect and triage stroke, aortic disease, pulmonary embolism and cerebral aneurysms, and US clearance is pending for a system looking at subdural haematoma. The new cash will go partly towards expanding into yet more disorders. The company is itself expanding too, having nearly doubled in size over the past year in terms of headcount, and it plans to hire a further 200 employees in the coming year. It has stayed quiet on what the future might hold beyond that; it extended its partnership with Medtronic last year, but neither a trade sale nor an IPO appear to be on the horizon.