Basis Science Inc., a startup founded in Vancouver – now based in San Francisco – has landed $11.75 million in series B financing.
The follow-on funding builds on an earlier series A round for a total of $23 million. Among the investors is Intel Capital, which just two weeks ago announced $4 million in venture capital investment in Vancouver wearable device maker – Recon Instruments
Basis Science was founded by Nadeem Kassam in Vancouver, but the company has relocated to San Francisco. Kassam's LinkedIn profile still lists him as being from Vancouver. Kassam is also co-founder of the Vancouver startup Connect the Doc, a web platform that people can use to find and make appointments with health professionals, like dentists and chiropractors.
The investment underscores Intel's confidence in the market for wearable computers. A report by Juniper Research last year estimated the wearable mobile device market will be worth $1.5 billion by 2014, and ABI Research estimates the global market for wearables in health and fitness – an area Vancouver startups have been particularly focused on – could reach 170 million devices by 2017.
"Wearable computing enables a data-driven approach to managing healthcare and fitness," said Arvind Sodhani, executive vice president of Intel and president of Intel Capital.
"By collecting heart rate, skin and ambient temperature data along with movement tracking, the Basis multi-sensor band opens up opportunities for data analytics driving deeper insights into health and personal behavior."
Basis uses four types of sensors to calculate and analyze data used for monitoring health and fitness, including the number of steps the wearer takes, calories burned, heart rate and even sleep quality.
