NuvoAir Raises $12M to Help Broaden Use of Its Home Care Platform

NuvoAir announced it has raised $12 million in Series A funding, which it will use to expand a digital care platform for people in the U.S. and Europe with serious respiratory disorders like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and to advance work on new products.

The company’s NuvoAir Home platform features a new app for at-home use, called NuvoAir Cough, that can record and assess coughing sounds made by patients with chronic lung conditions.

Platform technologies also include a spirometer with Bluetooth capability to remotely monitor lung function, a sensor that connects to inhalers for COPD and asthma, and offers Fitbit integration. Data gathered through these technologies are sent to NuvoAir’s advanced chronic disease management platform.

Money raised in this financing round, led by AlbionVC, the U.K.-based technology investment arm of Albion Capital Group, will also be used to promote decentralized clinical trials worldwide among NuvoAir’s customer and partner base.

“Thanks to this financing round, we will be able to further expand our technology, data science, and clinical service capabilities to empower more people with chronic conditions to live a better life,” Lorenzo Consoli, founder and CEO of NuvoAir, said in a press release.

According to NuvoAir, more than 500 million people worldwide are living with chronic respiratory conditions such as COPD, asthma, and cystic fibrosis, costing some $300 billion annually in care management.

The NuvoAir platform, in being designed for at-home use, is expected to help ease these diseases’ economic burden while improving patient care and life quality. Its use has cut the frequency of urgent hospital visits by more than 39%, and it boasts a 95% retention rate, the company reports.

Patients and providers can use the platform to track data, pinpoint real-time changes in their health and behavior, and get data-driven insights into treatments they are taking. NuvoAir care coordinators are available in the U.S. to help a patient’s healthcare team.

The NuvoAir Cough smartphone app uses an artificial intelligence algorithm to record day or nighttime coughing. These sounds are forwarded to a server, where the data is processed and noise interference removed. Results can then be used to determine whether coughing symptoms are worsening or easing.

NuvoAir’s technology has been included in more than 30 clinical studies, the company reports, allowing patients with COPD and other lung conditions to collect and share data remotely with scientists, without the need for repeated, on-site clinic visits.

“We’re proud to be able to support NuvoAir, one of the few digital health companies active in both Europe and the U.S,” said Christoph Ruedig, MD, an AlbionVC partner. “The company has built an impressive respiratory disease management ecosystem with strong clinical evidence and a scalable care model that benefits patients, payers, and providers.”