Beringea, Michigan’s largest venture capital firm, has invested $6 million in Remote Presence (RP) total telemedicine solutions provider, InTouch Health® link opens in new window. The investment, which is part of a $10 million Series D financing round, will fund the opening of an engineering research and development center in Michigan, as well as further fuel the company’s product development, sales and marketing efforts and international expansion. Beringea’s investment was made through its InvestMichigan! Growth Capital Fund link opens in new window, a $175 million fund that provides venture and expansion-stage capital to emerging businesses based in, or with substantial operations in the state of Michigan. InvestCare Partners and other investors provided the remainder of the round. InTouch’s new Michigan-based R&D center will include a team of advanced robotics engineers, taking advantage of the State’s highly-skilled labor pool. “We are excited at the opportunity to expand our presence in Michigan by partnering with Beringea and the InvestMichigan! fund,” commented Dr. Yulun Wang, chairman and CEO of InTouch Health. “We will be expanding our R&D and manufacturing operations into Michigan, recruiting from the world-class engineering programs that the universities have to offer.” InTouch Health’s RP technologies enable physicians to remotely perform complete and real-time consults and diagnosis with hospital patients. Currently, the company’s RP technology is used in more than 300 hospital locations nationwide, including 50 across Michigan. The company’s flagship RP-7® link opens in new window series product, is a wireless, fully-mobile, FDA-cleared robotic device that allows physicians to be in “two places at once.” Controlled by a physician at a computer in a remote location, the robot can move untethered around the hospital, allowing the physician to freely interact with patients, family members and hospital staff extending the physician’s reach and expertise, as well as removing time and distance barriers. “Michigan has played a large role in the Company’s growth and success,” said Michael Gross, managing director for Beringea. “The Michigan Stroke Network , driven by St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital in Pontiac, was the first and flagship hospital network to use InTouch’s advanced robotic technology for its stroke outreach program. In fact, with 33 robots, the network is one of the largest installations nationwide. “The success of this program helped make InTouch’s Remote Presence technology the clear leader for stroke outreach programs and was a jumping off point for a broader range of applications for specialty care services such as cardiology, trauma, pediatrics, neonatology and psychiatry,” said Gross. According to Datamonitor, the U.S. telemedicine industry is expected to rapidly grow over the next few years, reaching an estimated $6 billion by 2012. “Telemedicine is expected to emerge as a mainstream tool in health care delivery,” said Gross. “Factors such as the increasing shortage of physicians, the regulatory environment favoring outcome-based medicine and the increasing focus on removing costs from the health care system, will play a large role in driving growth in the industry.”