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Akili raises $160m for its prescription video game

The Boston startup plans to increase marketing of the FDA-approved therapy for children with ADHD.

A screen image from Akili's EndeavorRx video game, used to treat ADHD in children.

Akili Interactive, the Boston company that got the first prescription video game approved last June, has raised another $160 million in funding for its work on digital therapeutics.

Akili plans to use the money partly to expand its marketing of EndeavorRx, a video game approved by the Food and Drug Administration for children with ADHD. The financing round brings the 10-year-old company’s total venture funding to $230 million.

The FDA approved EndeavorRx as a way to improve attention function in children with ADHD as measured by computerized testing. Doctors can prescribe it to kids 8 to 12 years old who have an ADHD diagnosis and have demonstrated an issue with attention.

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The latest fund-raising round generated $110 million and was led by Neuberger Berman Funds. More than a dozen other new and existing investors also joined the round, including Amgen Ventures, Polaris Partners and M Ventures, Merck KGaA’s corporate venture capital arm, as well as Dave Baszucki, founder and CEO of video game developer Roblox Corp. Another $50 million was generated through debt financing, in the form of a credit facility with Silicon Valley Bank.


Jonathan Saltzman can be reached at jonathan.saltzman@globe.com.