Opticyte

What Opticyte does

Opticyte is a Seattle-based medical device company founded in 2016 as a spinout from the University of Washington, developing the VitalO₂ platform — a noninvasive monitor that measures both cellular oxygen (Cell O₂) and blood oxygen saturation (SpO₂) in real time using visible and near-infrared optical spectroscopy (500–800 nm) combined with a proprietary machine-learning pattern-matching algorithm trained on balanced dark, medium, and light skin tone data. The device targets two clinical problems: delayed sepsis detection leading to organ failure and racial bias in conventional pulse oximetry that has been shown to misdiagnose Black patients at roughly three times the rate of White patients. Use cases focus on emergency departments, intensive care units, and operating rooms within acute care hospitals. Clinical evidence has been built through a first-in-human observational study of nearly 150 patients at Harborview Medical Center and University of Washington Medical Center, with Dr. Eileen Bulger (Chief of Trauma, Harborview) serving as clinical advisor.

The company has secured two FDA Breakthrough Device Designations — the first in January 2023 for the Cell O₂ Patient Monitor and the second in April 2025 for its racially unbiased pulse oximetry — a dual-designation outcome held by very few devices in FDA history. The leadership team combines deep technical and commercial medtech experience: CEO and co-founder Lori Arakaki holds a UW bioengineering PhD with 20+ years in optical spectroscopy; Board Chair Robert Barry has founded and led four medical device companies; and board members include former GE Healthcare Critical Care CEO David Ataide and former BD/CR Bard VP of Medical Affairs Dr. Stefan Kraemer.

Opticyte remains pre-revenue and pre-commercial, with planned monetization through direct enterprise field sales of the VitalO₂ device and recurring revenue from single-use disposables to hospitals and healthcare systems. Total disclosed funding is approximately $4.6 million, comprising $4.05M in non-dilutive NIH SBIR/STTR grants, a $1.7M seed round led by SWAN Venture Fund II and StarFish Medical in November 2020, equity crowdfunding on StartEngine (over $235K by mid-2025), angel investment from FBomb Angels, and outside convertible notes. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; commercial launch is pending FDA regulatory clearance pursued via the De Novo pathway.

Name

Opticyte

Legal name

Opticyte, Inc.

Website

https://opticyte.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Opticyte is a Seattle-based pre-revenue medical device company developing the VitalO₂ platform, a noninvasive optical spectroscopy monitor that measures cellular and blood oxygen in real time to enable earlier sepsis detection and address racial bias in pulse oximetry for hospitals, emergency departments, ICUs, and operating rooms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Patient Monitoring Devices

NAICS

Electromedical and Electrotherapeutic Apparatus Manufacturing (334510)

SIC

Electromedical & Electrotherapeutic Apparatus (3845), Surgical & Medical Instruments & Apparatus (3841)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHLAHACAD

Blood Oxygen & Respiratory Monitoring (Pulse Oximetry, Capnography, Spirometry)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Medical Devices & Diagnostics/Patient Monitoring, Wearables & Remote Diagnostics

SECONDARYHLACAPAI

Clinical-Grade Vital Signs Monitoring (ECG, SpO2, BP, Temp, Respiration)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Digital Health & Health IT/Healthcare IoT & Remote Patient Monitoring

Keywords

• Cellular oxygenation monitoring
• Sepsis detection devices
• Patient monitoring systems
• Pulse oximetry technology
• Medical device innovation

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Hardware Device Sales: Sale of VitalO₂ monitoring devices to hospitals and healthcare facilities. Pre-revenue stage; commercial launch pending FDA regulatory clearance.
2. Disposables/Single-Use Components: Recurring revenue from single-use sensors or consumables required for continuous monitoring. Implied by medical device industry standard business model.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Opticyte is developing the VitalO₂ medical device, a noninvasive patient monitor that uses optical spectroscopy and a proprietary machine-learning algorithm to measure both intracellular oxygen (Cell O₂) and blood oxygen saturation (SpO₂/pulse oximetry) in real time. The platform is intended for hospitals' emergency departments, intensive care units, and operating rooms to enable earlier detection of sepsis, trauma, hemorrhage, and respiratory failure, with accuracy across all skin tones. The product is pre-commercial and pending FDA clearance.

Product overview

Opticyte offers the VitalO₂ platform—a single, unified medical device that is the first to measure both cellular oxygen (Cell O₂) and blood oxygen saturation (SpO₂/pulse oximetry) in real time. The platform received two FDA Breakthrough Device Designations: the first for its Cell O₂ monitoring technology and the second for its racially unbiased pulse oximetry. The VitalO₂ uses proprietary optical spectroscopy (visible and near-infrared, 500-800 nm) and machine learning algorithms trained on diverse skin tones to provide comprehensive, actionable oxygenation data. The device is designed for use in emergency departments, intensive care units, and operating rooms to enable earlier detection and treatment of sepsis, trauma, hemorrhage, and other conditions leading to organ failure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• VitalO₂: The company's flagship medical device - a first-in-class patient monitor that measures both cellular oxygenation (Cell O₂) and pulse oximetry in real time, designed to work accurately for all skin tones to prevent organ failure from sepsis, trauma, and other conditions.

Products and services

• VitalO₂ Patient Monitor The VitalO₂ is Opticyte's flagship noninvasive medical device and the first monitor to measure both intracellular oxygen (Cell O₂) and blood oxygen saturation (SpO₂/pulse oximetry) in real time. It uses optical spectroscopy in the visible and near-infrared spectrum (500-800 nm) and a proprietary pattern-matching machine-learning algorithm trained on balanced dark, medium, and light skin tones to deliver comprehensive oxygenation data for sepsis, trauma, hemorrhage, and respiratory failure across all patient skin tones. The device is intended for use by hospital clinical teams in emergency departments, intensive care units, and operating rooms, and is currently pre-commercial pending FDA clearance.

Quantifiable outcome

• Sepsis affects 50 million people globally and 1.7 million in the US annually, causing 11 million global and 270,000 US deaths per year
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MedTech InnovatorcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSelected to 2023 cohort (5% acceptance rate) and competed as finalist for Execution Award. Premier medical technology accelerator providing mentorship, networking, and resources for growth-stage medtech companies.
• Creative Destruction Lab (CDL-Vancouver)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlumni of CDL-Vancouver, an objectives-based accelerator program for science and technology ventures. Provides mentorship and strategic guidance for scaling ventures.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Masimo: Masimo is the dominant pulse oximetry vendor globally and is most directly comparable to Opticyte's SpO2 component. Both sell hospital-grade patient monitors measuring oxygen saturation, and Masimo has publicly invested in addressing skin-tone bias, making it Opticyte's principal competitor in the racial-bias-corrected oximetry niche.
• Medtronic (Nellcor): Medtronic's Nellcor pulse oximetry line is a long-established competitor in hospital oxygen monitoring. Both companies target ICU, ED, and OR use cases and sell into the same hospital procurement ecosystem, making Medtronic a direct comparable for Opticyte's commercial motion.
• Nonin Medical: Nonin is a privately held specialty pulse oximetry manufacturer with a strong reputation for accuracy across patient populations, including dark-skin tones. As a focused mid-sized oximetry player, Nonin is the closest privately held direct competitor to Opticyte's SpO2 capabilities.

Broad incumbents

• Edwards Lifesciences: Edwards dominates advanced hemodynamic monitoring in the ICU and OR with the FloTrac and HemoSphere platforms. Its established footprint in critical-care oxygenation and perfusion monitoring overlaps with Opticyte's higher-acuity cellular oxygenation use cases.
• ICU Medical: ICU Medical (which acquired Smiths Medical) provides a broad portfolio of patient monitoring, infusion, and vital-signs devices to hospitals. Their pulse oximetry and patient monitoring offerings compete for the same hospital budgets and procurement cycles as Opticyte's VitalO2.
• GE HealthCare: GE HealthCare offers multi-parameter patient monitors used across hospital ICUs, EDs, and ORs. Opticyte's board includes GE Healthcare's former Critical Care CEO, and GE represents both a competing platform and a potential strategic commercialization partner for the VitalO2.
• Philips Healthcare: Philips is a global leader in patient monitoring with the IntelliVue platform used in ICUs worldwide. Its installed base and integrated monitoring ecosystem compete directly with Opticyte's enterprise hospital sales motion. Opticyte's board includes Philips' former CMO.
• Drägerwerk: Dräger supplies anesthesia, ventilation, and patient monitoring solutions to critical care and operating room settings. Its combined monitoring and therapy offering competes with Opticyte in ICU and OR oxygenation workflows.

Emerging players

• Prenosis: Prenosis developed AI-driven sepsis diagnostics (Sepsis ImmunoScore) using biomarkers and machine learning. While Prenosis focuses on host-response diagnostics rather than continuous monitoring, both companies target early sepsis detection in hospital settings and compete for the same clinical decision-making budget.
• Inflammatix: Inflammatix is developing host-response based diagnostics for acute infections and sepsis. Though focused on rapid diagnostic tests rather than continuous monitoring, both companies pursue early sepsis detection and could partner or compete in integrated sepsis care pathways.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/opticyte_inc
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php?id=61565128838610
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/opticyte-inc

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors5 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Opticyte