Boston-based virtual reality platform XRHealth announced it secured $6 million in funding, led by Asabys Partners, with participation from NOVA Prime Fund and the company's current investors. 

WHAT IT DOES

XRHealth's platform allows patients with stress and anxiety, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, and neurological conditions to connect with a provider via telehealth and receive recommended therapies on a virtual reality headset that's sent to the patient's home. Data is collected and transferred to the provider, and patients can track their process via XRHealth's mobile app.

Last year, the Boston-based company merged with Barcelona-based Amelia Virtual Care, a VR platform for mental health professionals. The companies joined under the XRHealth brand name, and the recent funding round solidified the completion of that merger. 

Amelia, formerly Psious VR, offers a virtual reality platform for mental health professionals to perform assessments and provide interventions such as mindfulness, relaxation, gradual exposure and psychoeducation. 

The recent $6 million investment will be used to support the growth of the combined companies, and for the development of XRHealth's portfolio, which includes creating an AI-enabled clinician that can help treat patients with mental health conditions and guide patients through physical and occupational treatment programs.

"We believe that 2024 will be the year of VR," Eran Orr, CEO of XRHealth, told MobiHealthNews in an email. "The funding will be used to create more cutting edge technologies like an AI clinician that will push the boundaries of how VR/AR will be used in the digital healthcare space."

MARKET SNAPSHOT

In 2022, the company secured  $10 million in funding to expand VR-focused healthcare treatment in the metaverse.  

Two years before, XRHealth scored $7 million in funding and a $450,000 grant from the Israeli Innovation Authority to provide hospitals in Israel with telehealth services to combat the effects of COVID-19. 

In November, the company revealed its plans to send a VR headset into space to support astronauts' mental health.  

In collaboration with Nord-Space Aps and HTC Vive, XRHealth engineered the Vive Focus 3 headset to withstand the conditions of space by using a simulator mode and specialized tracking methodology through the controllers to ensure effective operation in a microgravity environment.

Last year, XRHealth was awarded a U.S. patent for a learning system technology that adjusts training and treatment protocols according to a patient's biometric and motion data.

The technology will first be used to combine Apple Watch with Apple's new augmented reality headset announced in June, dubbed the Apple Vision Pro, to provide closed-loop AI-enabled treatment.