Life sciences technology company Teckro has raised $6 million from a number of investors including a top US technology investment fund.

The funds will be used to support “further development and expansion” of the Limerick-based mobile software platform for clinical trials.

The investment was led by San Francisco-based Founders Fund, with participation from Enterprise Ireland and private investors. It is understood to be the fund's first investment in an Irish company.

It brings the total amount of funding raised to date by Teckro to $7.8 million.

Machine learning

Teckro uses information-retrieval and machine-learning technologies to improve the speed and accuracy of trial conduct. The technology has already been adopted by a number of leading pharmaceutical companies.

Teckro chief executive Gary Hughes said the funding "validates" the company's approach and its growth potential.

“We set out to make a difference, to make it easier for drug developers, research staff and patients to connect, and to simplify every interaction in the conduct of a clinical trial,” he said.

“The funding will be used to expand our product development team as we continue to digitise clinical research services.

“Fundamentally, the clinical trial landscape has changed and physicians struggle with the current method of conducting clinical trials. The funding we are announcing today validates our unique approach, and the growth potential of the company.”

Impressed

Scott Nolan, partner at Founders Fund, said Teckro could modernise how clinical trials are run.

“We’re really impressed by the Teckro team and their vision for clinical research,” he said.

“There’s a clear opportunity in modernising how clinical trials are run, and Teckro’s mobile-first solution is informed by a first-hand understanding of the challenges involved in conducting global clinical trials.”