Calgary-based healthtech startup RetinaLogik has closed $1.1 million CAD in convertible note financing and secured a Class II medical device licence from Health Canada.
Now, armed with regulatory approval and fresh capital for its portable eye test product, RetinaLogik has set its sights on accelerating its North American expansion.
RetinaLogik co-founder and CEO Abdullah Sarhan described Class II approval as a “major milestone” that will aid the company’s expansion into more applications and markets.
CEO says approval will aid startup’s expansion into more applications and markets.
In an exclusive interview with BetaKit, Sarhan said this certification opens the door for RetinaLogik to move beyond just screening and into diagnostics and monitoring. He also expects it to make RetinaLogik’s path to growing internationally “smoother.”
RetinaLogik classified this round as an extension to the startup’s initial, $783,000 pre-seed round last summer. It was co-led by Spring Impact Capital and the University of Calgary’s UCeed with support from fellow existing backers Startup TNT and HaloHealth, plus new investors ScaleGood Fund, Local Investing YYC, Mount Rundle Club, and undisclosed angels.
This brings RetinaLogik’s total dilutive financing to just over $2 million. The startup has also secured nearly $1.6 million in non-dilutive capital, including $270,000 in grant funding from Alberta Innovates in July 2024. RetinaLogik closed its pre-seed extension in December and secured its certification from Health Canada that same month after about a year of legwork.
Founded in 2021 by Sarhan and COO Julia St.Amand, RetinaLogik aims to increase access to vision care and improve clinic efficiency with its flagship eye test product, which leverages virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), and existing hardware.
RetinaLogik’s platform helps eye care professionals in optometry and ophthalmology clinics collect and analyze visual field data using a portable VR headset and advanced analytics software. While wearing RetinaLogik’s device, patients are guided through a tutorial in their preferred language and then various vision tests. According to the company, this means tests can be completed from anywhere inside a clinic with supervision, and specialists can view the results remotely.
“Current [eye testing] equipment in clinics [is] not built for efficiency,” Sarhan claimed, noting that existing devices require lots of maintenance, technician support, and in some cases, dedicated rooms. “We are trying to replace or do the majority of those exams on [VR] instead.”
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According to the CEO, the flexibility of RetinaLogik’s device is particularly important because it enables eye care professionals to conduct more eye exams more cost-effectively.
“Over the past two years, the RetinaLogik team has built a groundbreaking VR platform that delivers unparalleled clinical reliability for functional eye exams,” UCeed Funds operating partner Nikhil Bedi said in a statement. “Their innovative approach—administering multiple sequential exams without intervention from technicians and at unprecedented speed—represents a transformative step forward in the future of eye care.”
Prior to this milestone, RetinaLogik’s device was already cleared for screening in Canada. According to Sarhan, Class II approval enables it to be used for monitoring and diagnostics. In turn, he said this will allow the startup to provide eye care clinics with better analytics to help them make more informed decisions while trying to detect conditions like glaucoma.
Since announcing its initial pre-seed financing last summer, Sarhan said RetinaLogik has been working to expand its presence in eye care clinics across Canada and the United States (US).
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During this time, Sarhan said the company has also registered with the US Food and Drug Administration, published additional studies, and developed more eye exams.
RetinaLogik plans to use its latest financing to continue improving its platform and help accelerate its expansion in Canada and the US, where it has already begun developing a presence.
Today, RetinaLogik offers five types of exams, including visual acuity—measuring how well someone can identify visual details from a specific distance—and colour vision. Sarhan said the startup plans to double the number of exams it provides with this capital. To support these goals, the company intends to grow its now more than 10-person team.
Feature image courtesy RetinaLogik.