Digital health startup HEARTio has secured $4.25 million in seed funding to advance a diagnostic platform that detects early warning signs of heart disease from a routine electrocardiogram. The round included participation from Bessel, VU Venture Partners, Intelligence Ventures, Audacious Capital and LifeX.
With new funding now secured, the company is preparing for clinical trials and FDA clearance, which could bring its technology to hospitals and clinics across the country. If successful, HEARTio’s flagship diagnostic platform, ECGio, could help physicians identify coronary artery disease sooner.
A silent stage of heart disease affecting millions
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, yet a significant portion of patients remain undiagnosed until symptoms become severe. Among the 6.7 million Americans living with heart failure, roughly 34%, about two million people are in “Pre-Heart Failure” (Stage B).
At this stage, structural heart damage has begun, but symptoms are often absent. Because the condition frequently goes undetected, opportunities for early treatment are lost.
Current diagnostic methods often require invasive procedures such as cardiac catheterisation or imaging that involves contrast dyes or radiation. These tests are costly, time-consuming and typically reserved for patients already showing clear symptoms.
HEARTio aims to shift diagnosis much earlier by extracting deeper clinical insights from a simple test already performed millions of times every day: the ECG.
A mission shaped by personal loss
The company was co-founded by Utkars Jain, Adam Butchy and Michael Leasure, and has since expanded its leadership team to include John Marous as Executive Chairman, along with Jake Fisher and John Moran as co-Chief Commercialisation Officers.
For Utkars Jain, the company’s mission is rooted in personal experience. His grandfather once arrived at a hospital with chest pain and was treated for a suspected heart attack using blood thinners. Doctors later discovered the real cause was a bleeding stomach ulcer, and the anticoagulant treatment ultimately proved fatal.
That tragedy highlighted how critical early and accurate diagnosis can be. Jain founded HEARTio to improve decision-making at the earliest point of care, ensuring clinicians have clearer information before initiating treatment.
In response to TFN’s question about the idea behind the company’s origin, Utkars Jain, CEO and co-founder at HEART.io, stated, “Everyone on the team has their own personal motivations, but at least mine was personal loss. When I was a teenager, I saw my dad recover from a hemorrhagic stroke, and heard about how my dad lost his dad due to a chest pain misdiagnosis (also as a teenager). It clearly elucidated that illness not only impacts the person, but their family, and their family’s family.”
HEARTio has also gained recognition on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, reflecting growing interest in its approach to transforming cardiac diagnostics.
However, he did not disclose the diversity. He stated, “While there aren’t any stats we can share at this time, we see the most diversity among our advisors and consultants.”
Turning a routine ECG into a powerful diagnostic tool
HEARTio’s platform, ECGio, analyses signals from a standard 12-lead electrocardiogram to identify patterns associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). The system predicts the presence, severity and location of coronary blockages without requiring invasive testing.
In effect, the technology translates a common bedside test into a much more detailed diagnostic instrument. Physicians can receive insights comparable to those traditionally obtained through more invasive procedures, but without catheters, radiation or contrast dye.
The platform also integrates intelligent software agents that analyse ECG data and highlight subtle abnormalities that may signal developing coronary disease. These agents assist clinicians by surfacing risks earlier, helping guide treatment decisions before symptoms escalate.
Early research has already demonstrated promising results. The company’s first validation study, published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, showed that a deep learning model could predict angiographic coronary artery disease using only ECG data from stable patients.
A second study involving more than 16,000 patients, published in JACC Advances, further validated the model’s ability to identify coronary artery disease using routine electrocardiograms.
Competitive landscape: What makes it different?
Talking about competition, Utkars told TFN, “Main competitors are companies that use CT scans to analyse CAD, like Cleerly/Heartflow (though we and they believe we are more partners than competitors), companies that also use ECGs as a diagnostic medium (Anumana, Powerful Medical), and companies that try to predict coronary disease from proprietary hardware (Corvista, Genetesis).”
Detailing what makes HEART.io unique, he stated, “It uses pre-deployed hardware, a headless API, no extra steps in the workflow to provide information that usually requires catheters, dyes, and radiation.”
Looking ahead
When it comes to the plans for the next three to five years, he added, “Our major goals are to complete our pivotal study, submit to the FDA, generate revenue, and expand our product suite to other indications (PET-CT, FFR prediction, Coronary Calcium, etc.).”
“This successful round of financing is a testament to the momentum we are building in bringing ECGio to market,” said Utkars Jain, Co-founder and CEO of HEARTio. “Up and down the cap table, we have so many people who believe in us from all around the world — executives, physicians, venture capitalists, and family offices. With this financing, we expect to complete our pivotal study and submit the technology to the FDA for clearance. Our technology has the potential to democratise cardiovascular care and help create a world where no one experiences a heart attack.”
“In addition to our investors, we have been incredibly lucky to work with so many globally renowned experts in Cardiology, Emergency Medicine, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Medical Devices, Biostats, Life Science Tools, and more,” said Adam Butchy, Co-founder of HEARTio. “This amazing team has allowed us to stay focused on patient care and technological innovation, making sure that we are creating something that is truly disruptive and impactful.”
