Kiio raises $600,000 in funding round seeking $1 million

Kiio, a sensor and software company based in Madison, has raised $600,000 in a recent funding round seeking $1 million in total.

Funds raised will go toward commercializing the business, CEO Dave Grandin told WisBusiness.com. Sales and marketing will be the focus as the company pursues online lead generation through social media and blogs, and the creation of direct marketing materials.

The company’s HIPAA-compliant software platform measures and records rehabilitative efforts when a surgery or major illness comes into play.

For example, Kiio’s sensors can measure the force with which a patient pulls an exercise cable, tracking how strength changes as the patient recovers. But its software is also meant to be used in chronic care programs and as part of surgical bundles, an alternative payment model for procedures like joint replacements.

“We allow you to collect data, mostly from physical and occupational therapy, but our software is also used for total joint replacement and chronic conditions like lower back pain,” Grandin said at the Wisconsin Technology Council’s recent Tech Summit event. “We provide value not only to the patients who interact with the patient-facing app, but to the people who are delivering that therapy, as well as, for things like lower back pain, we provide value to the payers.”

The company already has one product that is active with “a major insurer in Madison,” called Kiio LBP, which stands for lower back pain. Grandin calls it a “wellness or early intervention type product,” which consists of screening to determine patient eligibility, triage for figuring out what kind of help is appropriate, and interactive exercises that can be downloaded straight to users’ mobile platform of choice.

He declined to give the name of the insurer using this insurer-side app, but said “we’re going to go live with another one before the year is out.”

“If you engage patients to become responsible before they start spending money on services they may not need — physical therapies, MRI, epidural injections or even spine surgery — in many cases, those things can be avoided,” he said.

Kiio was founded in 2011, and has closed on other funding rounds in 2012, 2015 and 2016, raising over $5 million to date. Grandin says most of the money for this latest fund came from existing investors, adding he wants to raise the remaining $400,000 in six to eight weeks.

Also on the horizon for Kiio is the combined Michigan Growth Capital Symposium/Coulter Investment Forum event where company representatives will be presenting to over 600 expected attendees.

“It’s always good to get out there, network, meet with potential partners,” he said, adding that attending events like this “helps us stay in the minds of potential investors, as well as make some strategic connections.”

–By Alex Moe
WisBusiness.com