Healthtech firm Eko aims to be the new face of digital cardiac care

Digital health technologies for cardiac care are cropping everywhere, including Apple’s very own Apple Watch with ECG reading capability, but a Berkeley, California startup believes its product targets both consumers and clinicians effectively. Last week Eko Devices raised $20 million in a Series B funding round that will go toward its work on machine-learning algorithms that the company believes will offer early diagnosis of heart problems. The algorithms are currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said Connor Landgraf, CEO of Eko. He is hoping for a decision by the end of the year. “We would be one of the very first applications of a non-invasive, low-cost machine-learning tool,” he said, noting that the tool would be relatively easy for clinicians to use.“This isn’t some fancy pie-in-the-sky machine learning but is applicable on a day-to-day basis.”