Rune Labs, maker of an Apple Watch app that can track symptoms related to Parkinson’s disease, announced Thursday $12 million in funding led by Nexus NeuroTech, a new venture capital fund focused on brain disorders.
Rune in 2021 received Food and Drug Administration clearance for StrivePD, an Apple Watch app that uses the device’s sensors to track two Parkinson’s-related symptoms: tremors and dyskinesia, or the involuntary movements that are a side effect of medication. The app also collects sleep, activity, and medication data and can serve as a focal point for education and care management for people with Parkinson’s. The app can help users make day-to-day decisions about lifestyle and medication and help inform care decisions by providers. Rune also works with drug companies developing treatments for the disease.
Rune Labs CEO Brian Pepin told STAT the company will use the funds to push the adoption of its technology among health plans that can use it to manage care for their members with Parkinson’s disease. The company last year finalized a deal with “a large California health system” and now hopes to go out and sell to more organizations that have Medicare Advantage plans or other at-risk populations they serve. This requires an investment in business development staff and people to manage those relationships.