Israeli wearable tech startup HealthWatch has raised $20 million

The Israeli smart clothing startup HealthWatch has raised $20 million from the Chinese company Shijiazhuang Yiling Pharmaceuticals. The company had previously raised one round of capital.

HealthWatch has developed smart t-shirts with sensors that monitor for ECG and other vital signs such as respiration and skin temperature, and transmit the information to the wearer's smartphone, or to a doctor. The monitoring of ECG data over time may help the patient and doctors to detect heart problems such as cardiac ischemia and arrythymias. The smart shirts can also alert the wearer when they need to seek medical attention based on their vital signs. The sensors are interwoven into the shirts to appear as designs rather than monitors, and the shirts are machine washable. The device has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Europe’s CE mark.

HealthWatch currently employs 18 workers, and plans to use the funding to hire an additional 20 staff.

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