Northwell Holdings, the venture capital arm of New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health, partnered with Aegis Ventures to launch Optain, an artificial intelligence-powered ocular health company, with a $12 million seed investment.
Optain uses AI to analyze retinal scans and screen for multiple ocular conditions. The company is the first launched by Ascertain, Aegis and Northwell's collaboration to develop AI healthcare companies, according to a May 9 Aegis news release.
Northwell Health will be Optain's flagship commercial customer.
"The healthcare industry has made a concerted effort in recent years to shift treatment from reactive sick-care to proactive preventive care, but many of the legacy screening and diagnostic technologies used by clinicians today are expensive and inaccessible," Optain CEO Jeff Dunkel, said in the release. "Optain will accelerate that shift and make preventive care ubiquitous by placing smarter, faster, and more efficient diagnostic tools in the hands of clinicians everywhere."