BTV-based THINKMD raises $6.3 million for expansion of healthcare tech

THINKMD, the Burlington-based healthcare technology company, has been awarded $2.3 million by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and has raised an additional $4 million in a financing round, putting it on track to expand globally. The company’s technology is already being used in 10 countries.

Co-founders and physicians Barry Finette and Barry Heath launched the company in 2015 with a smartphone-based medical intelligence platform that allows community health workers without medical training to diagnose and treat sick children with remarkable efficacy.

The technology was aimed at improving healthcare for children in Third World countries. Field tests in the Philippines and Peru showed these community health workers reaching the same conclusions as a trained pediatrician more than 80% of the time — a rate of effectiveness that matches what doctors are able to achieve among themselves.

Validation studies since then have demonstrated that THINKMD’s clinical assessments and triage recommendations correlate up to 95% with those of healthcare professionals, according to a news release.