There’s been significant changes in cancer treatment over the last two decades that have been fueled by technological innovation. For the first time ever, physicians are able to abandon one-size-fits-all approaches to treatment that typically result in poor quality of life and increased recovery times. By tailoring treatment, patient outcomes improve. Avenda Health is a prostate cancer detection and treatment platform that uses AI to deliver precision therapy. By using deep learning to map cancer cells, Avenda Health is able to remove only impacted cells rather than removing the entire prostrate as common in conventional therapies, which leads to reduced urinary and sexual function. The company’s signature iQuest machine learning-powered visualization software is able to detect cancer cells that are not found in MRIs. Founded out of UCLA in 2017, Avenda Health plans to expand the use of its technology as well as continue clinical evidence collection.
LA TechWatch caught up with Avenda Health CEO and Cofounder Shyam Natarajan, PhD to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding, which brings the total funding raised to $19.3M, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We raised $10M in Series B, led by VCapital and participation from Plug & Play Ventures and Wealthing VC Club.
Tell us about your product or service.
Our technology is transforming the standard of care for prostate cancer treatment, supported by two solutions: iQuest and FocalPoint. iQuest is an AI-enabled patient management software that uses advanced machine learning to help physicians understand the extent of the disease and identify a cancer margin to target and fully ablate the tumor. FocalPoint consists of two needles – a laser and a sensor – powered by iQuest, that can be used in-office with local anesthesia, meaning little to no downtime for the patient. At the core of our products is the desire to provide the quality of life and innovation of care that is missing in today’s prostate cancer therapy.
What inspired the start of Avenda Health?
Avenda Health was born out of a National Cancer Institute Grant at UCLA in 2017 after years of research into targeted diagnosis and therapy, cofounded by Brittany Berry-Pusey, PhD, Leonard S. Marks, MD, and myself. Together, we brought decades of experience in prostate cancer care, medical imaging, and machine learning, and saw a huge unmet medical need. Not only are 1 in 7 men diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, but there have been little to no advancements in the standard of care for therapy in decades. Current treatments significantly impact patient longevity and quality of life, and predominantly treat in the entire prostate including the surrounding nerves and critical structures, despite it being mainly a localized disease. We knew something needed to change, namely, a better way to bring personalization and precision targeting to prostate cancer care.
How is it different?
Traditional prostate cancer treatment often comes down to two options: monitor the cancer’s growth without treatment or remove all or nearly all of the prostate, including healthy tissue – significantly damaging the areas around the prostate that control sexual and urinary function. This negatively affects patient quality of life, which often can cause men to go without therapy altogether.
What we’re doing is using an AI-driven cancer mapping software to specifically target the cancerous tissue and leave healthy tissue and nerves alone. Our mission is to transform the standard of care so we can significantly improve the quality of life of patients and save lives in the process.
What market are you targeting and how big is it?
We are focused on patients with localized prostate cancer. It’s a $20B+ market with 1 in 7 with a lifetime risk of this disease.
What’s your business model?
Our platform doesn’t require a capital expenditure, and includes software and a disposable hardware kit. We aim to offer the treatment on a per-procedure basis and software as a service.
How are you preparing for a potential economic slowdown??
For companies in our space and our stage, we are less sensitive to larger economic factors affecting consumer products. Additionally, we are shifting care from a hospital to an outpatient setting, providing value to the healthcare system. We have been extremely capital-efficient to date, and have been very deliberate in how we grow our team.
What was the funding process like?
A rollercoaster of emotion. Fundraising is a full-time job, but then you also have a business to run, so I am incredibly grateful to my co-founders and team who kept moving fast during the raise.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
I think the same challenges all founders face – external factors out of our control. As an entrepreneur, you are constantly adapting and iterating on your plan
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
I think the biggest differentiator of our business is the fact that we not only have a disruptive therapy for a huge unmet clinical need (1 in 7 men), but also an AI-enabled platform for personalized care that has nearly limitless potential to transform the care pathway and improve outcomes for other therapies.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We aim to add to our clinical evidence and accelerate our commercialization.
What advice can you offer companies in Los Angeles that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
First of all, Los Angeles is a fantastic place to build a business, especially in healthcare, and I welcome any of the local entrepreneurs to reach out. My main advice is to not give up and continue to believe in yourself and your vision. Tied to that is to be kind to yourself. Fundraising is a numbers game and throughout the process you will hear new and interesting (and sometimes questionable) perspectives of your business or opportunity. Each meeting or conversation is an opportunity to hone your message, but also remember to stick to your convictions.
First of all, Los Angeles is a fantastic place to build a business, especially in healthcare, and I welcome any of the local entrepreneurs to reach out. My main advice is to not give up and continue to believe in yourself and your vision. Tied to that is to be kind to yourself. Fundraising is a numbers game and throughout the process you will hear new and interesting (and sometimes questionable) perspectives of your business or opportunity. Each meeting or conversation is an opportunity to hone your message, but also remember to stick to your convictions.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
In the near term we are continuing to gather clinical evidence, and conduct additional demos/pilots.
What’s your favorite outdoor activity in LA?
Griffith Observatory is my favorite place in LA, but it would have to be hiking – we’ve got fantastic trails in both Santa Monica Mountains and in the Angeles National Forest.
