Clarius Mobile Health, a provider of high-definition wireless ultrasound systems, announced that it has raised $20M in a strategic investment round led by Nimbus Synergies and Export Development Canada, with participation from existing investor Pender Ventures. This new investment reportedly will enable Clarius to expand its commercial scale worldwide more rapidly and capitalize on the momentum created by the introduction of the company’s third-generation product line earlier this year along with a new SaaS membership model. Designed for all medical specialists, the new pocket-sized scanners are available with revolutionary pricing and new features.
The company also announced that Ohad Arazi has been appointed as president. Arazi will transition into the role of chief executive officer in the second half of 2022, succeeding Laurent Pelissier, founder of Clarius, who will take on the position of chief innovation officer. The company also announced today that Michael Berkson has stepped down as chair and is leaving the board after joining 6 years ago as a founding member. He will be succeeded as board chair by Don Listwin.
According to the company, these leadership changes are the culmination of the board and leadership succession plan, with a goal of capitalizing on the strength of Clarius’ performance in 2021, which delivered 100% revenue growth year-over-year, and increasing the focus on artificial intelligence and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to deliver a complete pocket-sized ultrasound solution.
“With more than 20 years of experience as a senior executive and investor in digital health, medical imaging, and artificial intelligence, Ohad has a wealth of knowledge to share,” says Pelissier. “His proven track record in scaling companies coupled with the deep domain knowledge in imaging AI and workflow solutions are exactly what our company needs for the next stage of our evolution,” he adds. “Having a seasoned operator on board will allow me to focus on shaping the next wave of innovations to further push the boundaries of medical imaging.”
Arazi’s background spans executive management, strategy, and product management roles. He recently served as CEO of Zebra Medical Vision, an imaging AI company, and was formerly the chief strategy officer at TELUS Health and a senior vice president with Change Healthcare and McKesson’s Medical Imaging Group.
“We have tremendous tail winds propelling us forward, having doubled our revenue in the past year and launched a SaaS membership model that is gaining strong adoption with our users,” says Arazi. “I believe that by fusing innovations from the digital health and medical device domains, handheld ultrasound can play a tremendous role in transforming outcomes, decreasing cost, and enhancing collaboration. I am humbled to take on this leadership role and excited to learn from Laurent, who is one of the true innovators in our industry.”
Incoming Chair Don Listwin has been a member of the Clarius board since 2021. He is a 35-year veteran of the technology industry, recently serving as CEO of Rapid.AI, a diagnostic and decision support system for physicians treating stroke patients. He previously served as an executive vice president at Cisco Systems, where he spent a decade, and as CEO of Sana Security and Openwave. Listwin holds 10 board appointments, serves as a technology partner at Sequoia Capital and Rally Ventures, and is the founder of the Canary Foundation, dedicated to the early detection of cancer.
“I’m looking forward to working closely with Laurent and Ohad to capitalize on this momentum and help Clarius enter the next stage of our growth journey. We are grateful to Michael Berkson for his exemplary service and stewardship of the company as our Chair since 2018,” said Listwin.
Speaking about the $20M strategic investment in the companies pocket-sized ultrasound technology, Paul Geyer, CEO of Nimbus Synergies, who will be joining the company’s board, said, “Clarius is the most disruptive ultrasound company in the market today, fusing high-performance ultrasound imaging, cloud data, and artificial intelligence in a powerful ecosystem that provides significant clinical value to improve patient care. The company has been extremely capital efficient to date, and we know these additional funds will fuel even faster growth.”
