InnSight Technology has received a $515,000 Social Impact Investment from the Richard King Mellon Foundation after winning first place in the Foundation's Social Impact Investment Pitch Competition. The funding will support engineering, manufacturing, and clinical validation of InnSight's OcuCheck technology as it advances toward commercialization. OcuCheck is a point-of-care diagnostic platform that quickly measures multiple biomarkers from a small tear sample during a routine eye examination. Although the technology is initially being developed to improve the diagnosis of dry eye disease, InnSight says it also has the potential to expand tear fluid diagnostics into broader disease detection, including earlier diagnosis and prediction of diabetes.

According to the company, diabetes is the leading cause of vision loss among working-age adults, and more than 35 million diabetic eye exams are performed annually in the United States. InnSight says those routine visits position eye care providers to identify at-risk patients earlier in the disease process, particularly in rural and underserved communities where eye exams may be among the few regular health care encounters.