Amid a decline in venture capital support for Black founders, a South Bend entrepreneur raised $5.5 million last year. That's likely among the highest amount of money raised by a Black medical technology founder in 2023. His technology could improve millions of lives, including that founder’s brother.
Vital View Technologies CEO Ray Fraser plans to seek FDA clearance in 2025 for a patent-protected connected care tool that has hospital, medical clinic and home use applications. The congestive heart failure monitoring platform features a proprietary non-contact, noninvasive, at-home medical monitor that tracks total body fluid change over time to give clinicians information that can prevent costly hospitalizations.
“This project is near and dear to me because it addresses a need experienced by my brother, who was diagnosed with type one diabetes as a baby and suffers from class 2 heart failure and stage 4 kidney disease as a result,” Fraser said. “He’ll be an early test user of our technology and is a constant reminder to me of how important it is for him and the millions of others who suffer similar conditions to have the right tools that can help them carefully track their health.”
Fraser’s brother has been a valuable source of use-case study, and his experience has supported Vital View’s drive to develop the game changing tools that will make a difference in care.
“On doctor visits with my brother for example, it has been interesting to see how a standing unit in clinician offices could be used,” Fraser said.
As originally envisioned, the monitor would be inserted under a patient’s mattress at home. Pushing a button triggers a radio frequency scan of the body that can be used to calculate change in bodily fluid retention.
Further validation of the promise of the Vital View technology is the fact that Fraser, a Black American, recently closed an oversubscribed $5.5 million funding round in a down market at a time when Black founders received only 0.48 percent of the venture capital dollars invested in general – the lowest in recent years, according to TechCrunch.
More than 5 million Americans have congestive heart failure. Black Americans have the highest incidence of cardiac arrest outside of the hospital and are significantly less likely to survive.
The technology is based on the research of Tom Pratt, a University of Notre Dame research professor. Fraser, a former entrepreneur in residence at the IDEA Center at the University of Notre Dame, learned of it and is working with support from the IDEA Center to get the technology to market. A serial entrepreneur, who has worked in various industries, Fraser said getting the product to market carries special significance because of how it can help his brother.
“I’m entrepreneurially driven, but I’m really blessed that my journey took me to South Bend and this technology,” he said.
Fraser was also recently named a TechPoint Mira Awards Rising Entrepreneur Award nominee in recognition of his entrepreneurial work with Vital View.
Vital View’s seed extension round was led by Pier 70 Ventures and the Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, with participation from Red Rock Equity Group and Elevate Ventures.
South Bend-based Vital View Technologies is a smart health technology company that has created a patent-protected total body fluid management monitor for hospital and home use.
Caption: Ray Fraser (Provided by TechPoint)
