Funding roundup: Three Austin companies raise $67M for growth

Three Austin-area startups  — one focused on health care, one on medical technology and another on the music industry — have combined to raise $67 million in recent funding deals to continue their growth. 

Capital raised by startups is important for the Austin economy because it allows the companies to hire workers, potentially expand facilities and often accelerate product development.

Closedloop.ai reels in $34 million

Austin-based health care technology company Closedloop.ai has raised $34 million to add to its product offerings.

The round was led by Telstra Ventures and had investment from Breyer Capital, Greycroft Ventures and 406 Ventures, among others

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ClosedLoop makes a health care data science platform that uses artificial inteligence, machine learning and automation tools to create predictive models designed to identify opportunities for improving health care and reducing costs. ClosedLoop primarily serves hospitals and insurance companies.

The company's platform uses prebuilt features and is designed to be used by health care organizations without requiring a data science team. For example, customers can use the models to predict the needs of patients, streamline telehealth services, personalize outreach and predict readmission risk, according to the company.

The predictions integrate with existing clinical workflows as part of a patient health forecast using patient-specific data and key variables to explain potential risks with links to relevant information, according to the company.

“We need health care to be as good at using data to drive patient outcomes as the social networks are at getting us to click ads,” ClosedLoop co-founder and CEO Andrew Eye said. "We’re not going to stop until AI improves every decision, every day, for every patient.” 

The latest funding follows an $11 million round the company raised last year. 

Medical tech firm raises $30 million

Austin-based OsteoCentric Technologies, a company that makes medical devices used on bone implants, has raised $30 million. 

The funding round was led by Squadron Capital and OnPoint Advisors. 

The company, which was founded in 2015, is working on products for bone fixation in orthopedic and dental uses. OsteoCentric's products are designed to secure bones to implants using thread geometry technology, which are intended to be less invasive and more secure than previous methods, according to the company.

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Eric Brown, founder and CEO of OsteoCentric, said that while orthopedic manufacturers have done a good job of developing implants over the years, the methods used to secure them have largely not changed. 

"Current methods can damage the bone, delay the patient's return to motion, and are not designed to instantly interlock with the bone to optimize implant stability," he said. "OsteoCentric invented a less invasive method of securing implants to bone which is designed to preserve the bone and facilitate the patient's return to motion."

The company said the funding will be used to develop products that will further address bone and implant instability across all orthopedic specialties and dental implants. 

Music app maker lands funding

Earbuds, an Austin-based social music app startup, has raised $3 million to continue the company's group. 

The funding round was led by Ecliptic Capital and included investment from the Andre Agassi Foundation and LFG Ventures.

Earbuds says its goal is to redefine the streaming experience by making music a social experience. The company's platform allows users to chat, discover and share music and listen to the same streams simultaneously across a number of streaming services including Spotify and Apple Music. The company said it expects to add Pandora and Amazon Music to its options this year. 

Artists, labels and celebrities can also engage with fans on the platform through chat and live voice functions. 

Earbuds said the funding will be used to add tools to its app to better allow hosts to connect with listeners and monetize their streams.