Kento Health raises $4.1 million CAD to bring AI to cardiovascular care

Montréal-based healthtech startup Kento Health has closed a $4.1-million CAD ($3-million USD) pre-seed financing round.

The round was led by Boreal Ventures and N49P, and saw participation from Broom Ventures, Graphite Ventures, and several other strategic angel investors as well as an undisclosed US-based medical institution. Kento claims it is poised to make a substantial impact in the fight against the world’s leading cause of death by using technology like artificial intelligence (AI).

Kento’s co-founders previously worked at Dialogue Health, which was acquired this month by Sun Life.

“This funding not only boosts our mission to make cutting-edge heart healthcare accessible to all, but it also represents a significant step toward transforming heart disease from a life sentence into a manageable condition”, Max Leca, co-founder and CEO of Kento Health, said in a statement.

Kento offers a platform with two cardiovascular-focused programs. The first is focused on rehabilitation after major cardiac incidents, while the second is focused on cardiovascular disease support.

Through personalized content delivery, adaptive learning, and natural language processing, Kento claims that its AI-powered platform ensures that patients receive tailored education and exercise recommendations, to keep them engaged and motivated.

The startup claims that its predictive analytics, remote monitoring, and real-time feedback, help Kento’s AI algorithms track progress, identify potential challenges, and intervene proactively to prevent complications.

David Charbonneau, managing partner at Boreal Ventures, said the firm is pleased to be part of Kento’s mission to redefine cardiovascular care and have what he called “a global impact for underserved populations.”

Alex Norman, partner at N49P, also expressed his confidence in the venture. “We backed the Kento team as they have the rare combination of experience and insight that can lead to significantly better health outcomes globally,” he said in a statement. “Cardiac rehabilitation is not widely available and Kento’s approach will change this.”

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Kento was founded in 2022 by Leca, COO Mike Furino, and executive advisor Jonah Davies, who all previously worked at Dialogue Health, which was acquired this year by Sun Life. To date, many of the advances involving AI and health primarily revolve around cancer and digital triage prediction. Based on their experience, Kento’s founders saw an opportunity to leverage AI to drive engagement, outcomes, and accessibility in cardiovascular care.

Cardiac rehab is a medically supervised program designed to improve cardiovascular health for those who have experienced heart attack, heart failure, angioplasty or heart surgery. Individuals who attend a full program of 36 sessions have a 47 percent lower risk of death and a 31 percent lower risk of heart attack than those who attend only one session.

Every year in the US alone more than 1.3 million adults with heart disease may qualify for cardiac rehabilitation, but it is estimated that only 25 percent eligible patients start a program, let alone complete one.

The reasons are plentiful: limited availability of practitioners in a geographic area, limited hours of availability, and other inconveniences make it difficult for patients to obtain the treatment they require.

With this financing, Kento Health is looking to launch its platform in the US. The startup said it has “already made significant progress in its mission to reach those in need of its programs,” and noted that it recently signed a “strategic co-development agreement” with an unnamed medical institution.

Image source Unsplash. Photo by Kenny Eliason.