Oculo is to be acquired, in its entirety by Revenio, a Finnish health tech company with a global reach.
Revenio Group’s ophthalmic diagnostic solutions include intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement devices (tonometers), retinal imaging devices, and perimeters under the iCare brand.
Oculo, which was founded in 2015 by the Centre for Eye Research Australia, is an Australian teleophthalmology and clinical communication platform company focusing on telehealth, remote monitoring, and clinical communications. The Oculo platform is designed to share clinical imaging, referrals, and other clinical correspondence securely and instantly between health care professionals. The acquisition is an integral part of Revenio’s growth strategy. With the acquisition, Revenio takes a significant step towards software connected eye care, which is an integral part of Revenio’s patient eye care pathway related future. Additionally, the acquisition significantly supports Revenio’s position as a key player in the ophthalmic diagnostics solutions and represents a significant step towards new opportunities in the rapidly growing areas of eye related telehealth and technology-enhanced eye care models.
Jouni Toijala, CEO of Revenio, said, “Software technology solutions are significantly enhancing patient eye care pathways and the clinical processes of eye care professionals. There are tremendous opportunities in improving the productivity and quality of eye care, and we see improving the continuum of care through secure communications and teleophthalmology with Oculo as a key.”
We are so proud that Oculo, our first spin out company, is having such success in revolutionising communication between eye care professionals
He continued, “The acquisition of Oculo marks Revenio’s strategic direction and commitment to connecting clinical care pathways and enhancing the clinical information. We see the opportunity of putting the high quality data that comes from Icare’s range of fundus imaging devices, perimeters and tonometers to even greater use. Oculo’s forward looking approach to connecting clinical teams and bridging their electronic health records and imaging systems is unique. We also share a similar set of values that are driven by the ambition and commitment to exceed the customer expectations. I am extremely happy to welcome Oculo to join Revenio’s global and innovative team of professionals.”
Kate Taylor, Oculo’s Co-founder and CEO said, ”Our new partnership with Revenio recognises that we have built a teleophthalmology and clinical communication solution that is needed by eye care professionals around the world. We started with a vision to transform clinical eye care and collaboration. We are delighted that Revenio shares this vison and are looking to expand it globally.”
Professor Jonathan Crowston co-founded Oculo with Dr Taylor while he was Managing Director at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA). Currently at the Duke-NUS Medical School and Singapore Eye Research Institute he added, ”Eye care is so reliant on imaging and functional assessment of the eye. More than almost any other speciality, eye care needs to digitise care. The era of teleophthalmology is clearly upon us. Both through Oculo and looking to the potential impact of home monitoring, I’ve seen how better tools and data can translate to better patient care”.
Professor Keith Martin, the current Managing Director of CERA, said, “A major part of CERA’s mission is to develop new technologies to improve eye health. We are so proud that Oculo, our first spin out company, is having such success in revolutionising communication between eye care professionals. Now, with Revenio’s strategy and support, we look forward to seeing even greater impact in the future.”
Dr Taylor said, “COVID-19 threw up all sorts of challenges for eye care and has created enormous pressures on eye care systems that were often already strained by patient demand. There are tremendous opportunities in this time of disruption to improve the productivity and quality of eye care, and we see improving the continuum of care through secure communications and teleophthalmology with Oculo as key.
“It’s been an enormous journey since Jonathan and I had our first discussion. I know that we are extremely grateful to the Oculo team for their dedication and their passion for better patient care.
“Having the opportunity to work with great partners like Glaucoma Australia, Diabetes Australia, the Macular Disease Foundation Australia and Optometry Australia is a great privilege that we look forward to continuing and growing in Australia. In the US, we are very pleased to continue our great partnerships, including with the recent launch of our combined product Iviews Connect Powered by Oculo, and Topcon’s Harmony.”
She concluded, “We couldn’t have started without our first customers – Dr Michael Coote, who was the first ophthalmologist to sign on, Specsavers who was our first optometry customer, as well as OPSM and Bupa who collaborated on our initial beta-testing. We’ve also been so wonderfully supported by our shareholders, from Peter Gunn and Mark Kirkby as our seed angels, through to the many other angel investors who generously shared their expertise – people including Natasha Mandie, Michael Ilcyznski, Leigh Jasper, Simon McKeon and David Sagar. We are also grateful for the support over the years from EM Advisory who have been instrumental in the company’s growth.”
