TORONTO – Zilia Inc. has raised C$4 million (US$3.16 million) in seed financing to push new ocular diagnostic technology to regulatory finish lines in the U.S., Canada and eventually Europe. Zilia co-founder and CEO Patrick Sauvageau said the Zilia Ocular is alone in measuring oxygen saturation in the eye, an important biomarker for eye diseases such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration.

Hexagon Bio Inc.’s latest, $61 million financing to advance work with small molecules mined from microbial genomes will help the firm build its DNA database, add to the team and advance preclinical work, said CEO Maureen Hillenmeyer.

While European health care systems have historically lagged the U.S. in terms of digital adoption, a report by investment firm Albion VC is highlighting how the pandemic has created the momentum for change.