LymeAlarm Closes $2.8M Seed Round to Accelerate AI-Powered Lyme Disease Detection
San Francisco, CA — May 15, 2025 — LymeAlarm, the pioneering health alert platform for Lyme disease prevention, today announced the successful close of a $2.8 million Seed Round led by Fortify Fund. This funding will accelerate the development of LymeAlarm's AI-powered early detection platform, expand geographic coverage, and deepen clinical partnerships across the United States.
The Investment Thesis
Fortify Fund, a health technology-focused venture firm known for backing companies that address critical gaps in preventive care, led the round with participation from strategic angel investors in the medical technology space. The investment reflects growing investor recognition that Lyme disease represents a massive, underserved public health challenge — one that technology is uniquely positioned to address.
"Lyme disease is one of the most misunderstood and mismanaged diseases in America," said the managing partner at Fortify Fund. "LymeAlarm's approach — combining environmental intelligence, biosensor data, and machine learning — represents exactly the kind of systems-level thinking needed to actually move the needle on this disease. We're proud to support this team."
The Lyme Disease Crisis
Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, transmitted through the bite of infected blacklegged (deer) ticks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 340,000 Americans are diagnosed with Lyme disease annually, though researchers estimate the actual number may be 10 times higher due to widespread misdiagnosis and underreporting.
The consequences of late-stage Lyme disease are severe and well-documented: persistent joint pain, neurological complications, cardiac abnormalities, and a debilitating condition known as Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS) that can last for months or years. Early detection and prompt antibiotic treatment can cure the vast majority of Lyme disease cases — but the window of opportunity is often missed.
How LymeAlarm Works
LymeAlarm's platform operates on three interconnected layers of intelligence:
Environmental Layer: The platform continuously aggregates tick activity data from wildlife management agencies, citizen science tick reporting platforms, and a proprietary network of environmental sensors. This data feeds real-time risk maps updated every 24 hours at the county level.
Biosensor Layer: LymeAlarm integrates with consumer health wearables to monitor biosignals — including temperature trends, heart rate variability, sleep quality, and activity patterns — that correlate with early-stage Lyme disease infection. When multiple signals converge, the platform issues a personalized alert.
Clinical Layer: For healthcare providers, LymeAlarm offers a HIPAA-compliant dashboard that aggregates community-level risk data, patient alert histories, and clinical decision support tools to facilitate timely diagnosis and treatment.
Use of Funds
The $2.8M Seed Round will be deployed across three primary initiatives over the next 18 months:
Platform Expansion: Approximately 40% of the funding will go toward expanding LymeAlarm's geographic coverage beyond the current Northeastern US focus to include the upper Midwest, Pacific Northwest, and mid-Atlantic regions — all areas with rapidly growing Lyme disease prevalence.
AI Development: Roughly 35% will fund continued improvement of LymeAlarm's machine learning algorithms, including training on expanded biosensor datasets and incorporating new environmental variables such as climate data and wildlife population dynamics.
Clinical Partnerships: The remaining 25% will support the development of formal partnerships with hospital systems, urgent care networks, and primary care physician groups to integrate LymeAlarm alerts into clinical workflows and validate our detection accuracy in real-world settings.
Leadership Perspective
"This funding is a validation of everything our team has worked toward over the past three years," said Erin Dawicki, CEO and Co-Founder of LymeAlarm. "Lyme disease devastated someone I love deeply, and I founded this company because I believe no family should have to go through what we went through. With Fortify Fund's support, we're one step closer to making that a reality."
Dr. James Park, Chief Medical Officer, added: "From a clinical standpoint, the holy grail in Lyme disease management has always been earlier detection. The work we're doing at LymeAlarm — bridging environmental surveillance with biosensor monitoring — has the potential to transform how this disease is caught and treated. I've dedicated my career to Lyme disease research, and I've never been more optimistic."
What's Next
LymeAlarm will use the Seed Round capital to hire additional engineering, clinical operations, and business development staff. The company plans to launch its expanded platform in four new geographic markets by Q3 2025 and aims to onboard 20 new healthcare system partners by year's end.
For patients and outdoor enthusiasts, LymeAlarm's consumer app remains available for download. For healthcare providers interested in the clinical dashboard, contact hello@lymealarm.com.
About LymeAlarm: LymeAlarm is a health alert platform dedicated to early detection and prevention of Lyme disease and tick-borne illnesses. Learn more about our mission.