Indonesian DNA data firm Asa Ren scores $8M funding

Asa Ren, one of the first DNA data companies in Indonesia, has raised $8.15 million in a funding round joined by Kejora Capital and Silicon Valley-based investors Top Harvest Capital and Marcy Venture Partners. Northstar Ventures, Naya Capital, PT Diagnos Laboratorium Utama Tbk and other angel investors also participated in the round.

The company, which offers a consumer DNA test that provides over 360 reports, will use its fresh funds to expand its digital capabilities, as well as develop clinical bioinformatics, an electronic health passport, and a clinico-genomic database focused on non-communicable diseases. It also plans to add medical diagnosis and complete health data of customers on its platform.

Asa Ren is also targeting to grow its distribution network to more than 60 hospitals and clinics by the end of 2023.

Meanwhile, as part of the funding round, Kejora Capital's founder and managing partner Andy Zain and InterBIO CEO Irawan Mulyadi will be joining Asa Ren's board of directors.

Thai mental health startup Ooca gets backing from Bangkok Dusit Medical Services

One of Thailand's largest private healthcare providers, Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (BDMS), has provided an undisclosed investment to mental health tech company Ooca as part of a Series A funding round.

Founded in 2017, Ooca offers a digital platform connecting psychiatrists and psychologists to patients seeking online counselling. It currently has over 180,000 users across the country, according to founder Dr Kanpassorn Suriyasangpetch. 

With BDMS's investment, Ooca plans to offer more online and offline mental health services covering the entire patient journey. 

Dubai Hospital deploys Lunit's breast AI analysis package

The Dubai Hospital has started using an AI breast analysis package from Lunit and Agfa HealthCare. 

The workflow-centric, evidence-based AI package, which is part of Agfa's RUBEE for AI framework, is powered by the Lunit INSIGHT MMG which provides a fast reading of mammography images with 96% accuracy.  

Augnito unveils developer portal for quick integration

India-based medical voice AI provider Augnito has launched a developer portal for the evaluation of its medical dictation service.

The new offering provides potential product partners step-by-step guides, Sandbox environments, SDKs, documentation, and other development resources they need to evaluate the Augnito Voice Services, a real-time medical dictation service that converts voice to text with 99% accuracy. 

Based on a press statement, Augnito Voice Services can easily integrate with existing EMR, HIS, PACS, RIS and LIS for up to 48 hours with minimal coding required, thus reducing integration time. It currently connects with over 70 clinical systems worldwide, including Fujifilm in India and the Middle East, Wellbeing in the United Kingdom, and Chartnote in the United States.

Moreover, the developer portal also hosts plug-and-play SDKs for various apps and custom SDKs and built-in libraries for comprehensive voice-based editing. Augnito also offers a free-to-download mobile mic app and mobile mic SDK for seamless dictation.

Telehealth service MyCLNQ Health comes to JustLogin app

Singaporean cloud HR solutions provider JustLogin has partnered with MyCLNQ Health to offer small businesses and their employees access to a comprehensive corporate health and wellbeing ecosystem.

According to a press release, MyCLNQ Health's online health services, including telemedicine and medicines delivery, are now available to JustLogin users as part of their subscription.

"This integration will progressively extend across JustLogin's entire suite of features, including Benefit, Leave and Payroll, to seamlessly address the administration of healthcare for employers and employees alike," JustLogin CEO Kwa Kim Chiong added. 

Ambrane to commercialise IIT Kanpur's smartwatch for the visually impaired 

The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur has signed a technology transfer deal with electronics company Ambrane India to manufacture and sell its haptic smartwatch for the blind and visually impaired.

The watch comes in two variants: the haptic version has 12 touch-sensitive hour markers over the dial face that upon touch generates a long vibration pulse to indicate the hour and a short vibration pulse to indicate minutes. Meanwhile, the smartwatch variant has a tactile-haptic interface to display time and health parameters, such as heart rate and step count. It also features a smart timer. 

The haptic watches were developed to address limitations of existing watches for the blind and visually impaired, IIT Kanpur noted in a press statement. "We believe that this watch will make a great social impact by enabling the visually impaired and blind to make seamless use of this technology for everyday usage," said IIT Kanpur Director Professor Abhay Karandikar.