Mid-America Angels invests $287K in medical firm Voxello

The Kansas City-based Mid-America Angels investment group announced that it’s backing an Iowa-based medical device company.

The regional network of angel investors announced Monday that it invested $287,000 into Voxello. The company created the “noddle,” which allows hospitalized patients to communicate nonverbally. The device detects voluntary gestures — such as a tongue click, eye blink or another small movement — and gives patients the ability to contact a nurse.

Rick Vaughn, managing director of Mid-America Angels, said that the tech will help patients around the nation.

“Effective communication between patient and provider is critical to the delivery of safe, high-quality health care,” Vaughn said in a release. “Voxello is leading the way in assisting severely impaired patients to express their needs and wishes to caregivers. Mid-America Angels is excited to be coming aboard as an engaged partner.”

Voxello announced Monday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the noddle to be safe and effective.

“Today 3.9 million hospitalized patients each year are unable to communicate through traditional means, which results in an estimated three billion dollars in preventable adverse events each year,” Voxello CEO Rives Bird said in a release. “At Voxello, our mission is to provide an effective and universal means to overcome communication barriers faced by hospitalized and long-term care patients. … “Voxello is very pleased to have Mid-America Angels as a partner. They offer more than just financing with their broad experience of entrepreneurial companies in the Midwest region. ”

The Mid-America Angels have already invested over $400,000 into regional second-stage companies this year. The organization celebrated 2016 as a record-breaking year in which it injected $3.6 million into 15 startups.