Lady Gaga probably wasn't thinking that a coup would unfold in her greenhouse. Then again, she was cohosting a party there with Sean Parker, the billionaire founder of Napster and first president of Facebook. It was February 2024, and the singer had invited guests to her 22.5 million oceanside estate in Malibu to mark the launch of a skin-care nonprofit. One of the organization's trustees was her boyfriend, whose day job was running the Parker Foundation. In the candlelit space, beside floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the Pacific, Parker's people mingled with Gaga's, nibbling focaccia and branzino alla brace to music from a string quartet (Grammy-winning, of course).

Exo, pronounced "echo," raised a fresh cash infusion of $220 million in Series C financing aimed at commercializing its handheld ultrasound device and point-of-care workflow platform, Exo Works. The round was led by RA Capital Management, while BlackRock, Sands Capital, Avidity Partners, Pura Vida Investments and prior investors joined in. The new funding gives the Redwood City, California-based company over $320 million in total investments since the company was founded in 2015, Exo CEO Sandeep Akkaraju told TechCrunch. This includes a $40 million investment raised in 2020. Ultrasound machines can cost anywhere from $40,000 to $250,000 for low-end technology and into the millions for high-end machines.

This morning AI-enabled handheld ultrasound startup Exo landed $35 million in Series B funding. The new infusion of cash was led by Intel Capital with participation from Applied Ventures, Bold Capital, Creative Ventures, Longevity Vision Fund, Magnetar Capital, Nautilus Venture Partners, OSF Healthcare, Rising Tide Fund, Sony Innovation Fund and Wanxiang Healthcare Investments. The Redwood City, California-based startup is developing a portable ultrasound that is able to create a 3D image. The company is combining nano-materials, sensor technology and advanced signal processing and computation to create the technology. The new money will be put towards developing the product and helping the startup go through regulatory channels.