CIT GAP Funds invests in e-Kare

The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) announced today that its CIT GAP Funds has invested in e-Kare Inc. of Fairfax, a digital health company that greatly speeds the assessment and monitoring of chronic wounds.

Chronic wounds include pressure, venous, and diabetic ulcers, severe burn, and complex surgical wounds that affect over 6.5 million U.S. patients, costing over $25 billion.  Founded in 2013 as a spin-off enterprise from the Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC), e-Kare has developed a proprietary point-of-care subscription service that enables comprehensive 3-dimensional wound assessment on a mobile device.  It also provides a HIPAA-compliant cloud management platform to support the front-end device, allowing clinicians to easily archive, access and analyze the clinical images and informatics generated from the e-Kare sensor.  The management platform can also interface with the clinicians’ existing electronic health record to further streamline care delivery.

Pete Jobse, President and CEO of CIT, said, “Healthcare reform is driving innovation, and companies like e-Kare are providing innovative solutions to improve service delivery and lower costs. We are always excited to find and invest in teams and companies like e-Kare.”

Led by Patrick Cheng, the e-Kare team consists of experts in the fields of surgery, computer vision and mobile technology.  e-Kare is also supported by a panel of advisors that include some of the leaders in the healthcare, IT and private equity industries.

Patrick Cheng, e-Kare CEO, said, “We are honored to work with CIT and will use this investment round to enhance our technologies and team so that we can aggressively capture share in the growing wound care market.”

Tom Weithman, CIT GAP Funds Managing Director, said, “The timing of our CIT GAP Funds investment comes at a crucial point to help innovative entrepreneurs like Patrick Cheng launch startups that are driving Virginia’s new economy.”

The CIT GAP Funds has invested $16 million to help develop nearly 130 high-growth new startups, which were then able to attract an additional $275 million in private equity investments.  For more information on the CIT GAP Funds, click here.

About the Center for Innovative Technology, www.cit.org: Since 1985, CIT, a nonprofit corporation, has been Virginia’s primary driver of innovation and entrepreneurship. CIT accelerates the next generation of technology and technology companies through commercialization, capital formation, market development and revenue generation services. To facilitate national innovation leadership and accelerate the rate of technology adoption, CIT creates partnerships between innovative technology start-up companies and advanced technology consumers. CIT’s CAGE Code is 1UP71. To learn more, please visit www.cit.org.  Follow CIT on Twitter@CITorg and add the Center for Innovative Technology on LinkedIn and Facebook.

About the CIT GAP Funds, www.citgapfunds.org: CIT GAP Funds makes seed-stage equity investments in Virginia-based technology, clean tech and life science companies with a high potential for achieving rapid growth and generating significant economic return for entrepreneurs, co-investors and the Commonwealth of Virginia. CIT GAP Funds investments are overseen by the CIT GAP Funds Investment Advisory Board (IAB). This independent, third-party panel consists of leading regional entrepreneurs, angel and strategic investors, and venture capital firms such as: New Enterprise Associates, Grotech Ventures, Valhalla Partners, Harbert Venture Partners HIG Ventures, Edison Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Intersouth Partners, SJF Ventures, Carilion Health Systems, Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, and Alpha Natural Resources.