Australian health technology company CardieX has acquired Silicon Valley-based wearable sensor start-up Blumio.

The aim is to improve CardieX’s suite of heart health products using Blumio’s cardiovascular wearable sensor algorithms and data analytics tools.

Blumio’s technology has the potential to increase clinical performance for CardieX’s ecosystem of heart health monitoring products.

Blumio has been developing wearable sensor technologies that can capture a cardiovascular signal without necessitating the use of pulse pressure. As a result of the prior three-year collaboration, the companies have already demonstrated Blumio’s sensor technology to be compatible with CardieX’s patented Atcor SphygmoCor arterial health technology.

Blumio has also developed a suite of data analytics and visualisation tools used to uncover insights in clinical data that contribute to CardieX’s wearable development efforts. These tools should enhance CardieX’s Arty heart health analytics platform to monitor, alert and provide proactively actionable health insights from CardieX’s Conneqt Pulse and Conneqt Band devices, thereby helping physicians and patients make more informed healthcare decisions.

Blumio CEO and co-founder Catherine Liao has joined CardieX as chief strategy officer, with Blumio’s head of product and operations Steve Braaten joining CardieX as operations director.

“I’m very excited to join the CardieX group of companies,” said Liao. “We’ve come a long way with our development activities at Blumio and the time was right to bring that knowledge and technology into a company that shares our strong cultural alignment.”

CardieX group CEO Craig Cooper added: “Blumio brings a suite of capabilities in wearable sensor development, signal processing and big data analytics expertise that will benefit both of our Atcor and Conneqt brands, especially in relation to the ongoing development activities surrounding our Conneqt Band. This acquisition is a natural extension of our core that provide a comprehensive ecosystem of unique health and wellness features focused on heart health.”

He said he was personally thrilled to have Liao and Braaten join the team.

“I’ve been working closely with Catherine for over three years as a result of our development collaboration and have seen first-hand the vision and strategic input she can bring to CardieX,” he said.

The acquisition of all Blumio assets is under an asset purchase agreement with $15,100 payable immediately and $150,000 in CardieX ordinary shares or ADRs, subject to service-based performance criteria in two tranches in 2023 and 2024.

CardieX is a health technology company that focuses on hypertension, cardiovascular disease and other arterial health disorders. The company’s Atcor division specialises in medical devices for measuring arterial stiffness and central blood pressure waveforms based on its FDA-cleared and patented SphygmoCor technology. Under the Conneqt brand, the company develops wearables and digital devices for remote patient monitoring, decentralised clinical trials and home health.

Founded in 2015, Blumio is a Californian sensor technology start-up focused on developing wearable sensors and cardiovascular health algorithms, including blood pressure estimation that is not reliant on an inflatable cuff. Its radio frequency technology gathers a validated pulse pressure waveform that enables at-home, all-day and all-night cardiovascular health data collection to help physicians and patients make informed healthcare decisions related to various health disorders, from hypertension to maternal health.