The Butterfly iQ, an inexpensive hand-held ultrasound device.
Butterfly Network, the maker of a $2,000 handheld ultrasound device, has raised $250 million from large private investors. A source familiar with the deal says the fundraising values Butterfly at $1.25 billion.
The flood of cash represents a victory for Butterfly's founder, executive chairman, and chief executive: Jonathan Rothberg, a swashbuckling biotechnology entrepreneur who previously led two companies that developed machines for sequencing DNA. It's not just that it's a lot of money; it's money that's coming from good sources: One investor is Fidelity. Also investing: the Gates Foundation, which Butterfly says sees the potential of the ultrasound device in the developing world, and Fosun Pharma, a Chinese drugmaker.
Rothberg previously told Forbes that the ultrasound device, the iQ, represented "the birth of an industry" and added: “We would like to change the world with ultrasound on chip." (Unlike other machines, the ultrasound is a semiconductor-based device.)
The iQ device is now shipping. There have been tens of thousands of orders, says Gioel Molinari, Butterfly Network's president. "We expect to have thousands of units in the field by year-end," says Molinari. "It’s just been extraordinary to see the click between the market and what’s needed and the product that’s produced."
The device is currently available to healthcare providers in the U.S. It costs $1,999, plus a monthly fee for the software aimed at making the images crisp and the device usable. This costs $35 a month for individuals, or $100 a month for a team of ten. Incoming requests, Molinari says, are currently split 60-40 between individuals who want to try the iQ out and health systems.
Last year Rothberg told Forbes that the inspiration for the ultrasound device was personal. His daughter suffers from a disease called tuberosclerosis (TSC), which leads patients to develop tumors throughout their bodies. He wondered why the equipment was so unwieldy, and started Butterfly after seeing a talk about artificial intelligence by MIT physicist Max Tegmark. He recruited one of Tegmark's smartest students, Nevada Sanchez, as a co-founder; Sanchez was on Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in 2015. The company previously raised $100 million, $20 million of it Rothberg's own money.
Getting the prototype, which was shown to Forbes last year (watch the video), into production ready took work, Molinari says. At one point, modifications had to be made to the way the sensor was assembled to speed up manufacturing. The launch in the U.S. should be in full swing during the rest of this year. Molinari says to expect a European launch next year, and a rollout in Asia thereafter. The iQ could be available in China by 2020, he says.
Sanchez, the Butterfly co-founder, will do a live demo of the iQ at the Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit in Boston on Monday, October 1.
