SAN FRANCISCO, June 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Aktana, the pioneer in decision support for global life science companies, today announced a $17.5 million financing led by Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE: SFE), which will initially deploy up to $8.25 million. Existing investor Starfish Ventures and others are also participating in the financing. Closing is expected on or before June 16, 2016. Aktana will use proceeds from the financing primarily for continued product development and international expansion. The company plans to open offices in China and Europe, adding to its current offices in San Francisco, New York City, and Tokyo.

Founded in 2011, Aktana focuses exclusively on the life sciences market, which has contributed to multi-year growth rates of more than 100%, and relationships with seven of the world's top 15 pharmaceutical companies. Aktana helps these customers improve their commercial effectiveness by delivering data-driven insights and suggestions directly to sales reps, coordinating multi-channel actions, and providing insight regarding which strategies work best for which customers under which conditions.

"Safeguard is keenly focused on deploying capital and building value in companies that make data actionable," said Al Wiegman, Managing Director at Safeguard, who will join Aktana's Board of Directors. "Aktana is at the center of this data exchange for life sciences companies. We believe that Aktana will be the de facto standard for the life science industry as it strives to turn data into knowledge, streamlining and improving efforts around product commercialization. Aktana has already proven to be an invaluable partner to many of the world's top pharmaceutical and medical device companies, with more in the pipeline."

Once a game plan has been developed around a customer's existing strategy, Aktana's Decision Support Engine examines market data and cross-channel activity, identifies best actions and supporting insights, and learns what works best. Empowered with suggestions and insights right in their CRM workflow, reps can focus on building stronger physician relationships and generating improved results. Marketing teams are similarly supported with actionable intelligence to improve commercial strategies continuously and over time.

"Our strict emphasis on supporting the sales and marketing teams of life sciences companies has been a key driver to our early success," said David Ehrlich, CEO, Aktana. "But we also see the potential of what we can do to personalize and customize the experience for everyone in the information loop, especially physicians. The one-size-fits-all approach to supporting physicians is over."

"The Aktana team was ahead of their time five years ago as they sought to understand the benefit of analytics for non-technical personnel," said Tony Glenning, Director, Starfish Ventures. "By learning as much about their target audience as the technology, they've developed an empathy for the user and their market that ultimately drives success as much as the solution does."

About Aktana
Aktana is the pioneer in decision support for global life science sales teams. The company's data-fueled suggestions and insights are delivered within a sales professional's existing CRM workflow, serving as a critical ally in data leverage and better decision-making. Aktana serves the entire organization by helping to coordinate multichannel marketing initiatives and facilitating learning via reporting on which program elements are most successful for which customers. Aktana is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York, Tokyo and San Diego. For more information, visit www.aktana.com.

About Safeguard Scientifics
Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE:SFE) has a distinguished track record of fostering innovation and building market leaders. For more than 60 years, Safeguard has been providing growth capital and operational support to entrepreneurs across an evolving spectrum of industries. Today, Safeguard targets early- and growth-stage companies in advertising technology, digital media, financial technology, enterprise software, digital health and healthcare IT. For more information, please visit www.safeguard.com or follow us on Twitter @safeguard.

About Starfish Ventures
Established in 2001, Starfish Ventures is an Australian venture capital fund manager partnering with high growth technology and life sciences companies with global potential. Starfish has over $400M in funds under management and has made investments in over 60 companies. For more information, visit www.starfishvc.com.

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SOURCE Aktana