Healthcare · Profile from Healthcare Research Companion
Butterfly Network, Inc.
The Connecticut-born maker of the first whole-body ultrasound probe built on a semiconductor chip, which plugs into a smartphone and sold for $1,999 at launch (2017), a fraction of a cart-based ultrasound system. Founded in 2011 by serial genomics entrepreneur Jonathan Rothberg, it raised ~$350m+ privately, went public through a SPAC in February 2021 at a ~$1.5bn valuation on a projection of $334m revenue by 2024, then saw its shares collapse as hospital adoption and reimbursement lagged the technology (2024 revenue: $82.1m). Under CEO Joseph DeVivo since April 2023 it has cut costs, launched iQ3, pushed enterprise software and AI, and since late 2025 licensed its chip outside handheld ultrasound (Midjourney's full-body scanner, brain-computer interface start-ups), with a stated goal of $500m revenue by 2030.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2011, Guilford, Connecticut (via Rothberg's 4Catalyzer incubator)
- Founder
- Jonathan Rothberg (founder of CuraGen, 454 Life Sciences and Ion Torrent)
- Headquarters
- Burlington, Massachusetts (verify); R&D historically in Guilford, Connecticut
- Ownership / structure
- Public company, NYSE: BFLY (since 12 February 2021 via merger with Longview Acquisition Corp.); Rothberg held super-voting Class B shares (verify current status)
- Leadership (2026)
- Joseph DeVivo, president, CEO and chairman (since 24 April 2023); John Doherty, CFO (since 8 December 2025)
- Segment and buyer
- Device and diagnostics: handheld point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) probes, cloud software and subscriptions, enterprise workflow (Compass), AI tools and the Butterfly Garden marketplace, and chip licensing ("Butterfly Embedded"). Buyers are individual clinicians, hospitals and health systems, medical schools, veterinarians, governments and global health programmes, and technology partners
- Scale
- 2025 revenue $97.6m (+19%; product $63.4m, software and services $34.2m); Q4 2025 $31.5m (+41%, incl. $6.8m from Midjourney); adjusted EBITDA loss $26.5m; cash ~$154.5m at end-2025 (reported). Q3 2026 revenue $32.6m (+52%) at a 73% gross margin and adjusted EBITDA loss of $1.2m; 2026 guidance raised in October to $123–126m revenue and adjusted EBITDA loss of $12–15m; cash $122.3m at 30 September 2026 (reported)
- Capital raised / valuation
- ~$100m by 2014 and a $250m Series D (2018, led by Fidelity, at ~$1.25bn); SPAC at ~$1.5bn with ~$589m gross proceeds incl. a $175m PIPE (2021); $86.9m follow-on offering at $3.15 a share (January 2025). Shares closed at a high of $27.14 (18 February 2021) and later traded below $1 (reported)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Ultrasound-on-chip founding (2011); iQ clearance and $1,999 launch (2017); iQ+ and pandemic demand (2020); SPAC listing (2021); enterprise software pivot (Compass, 2022); restructuring and DeVivo as CEO (2023); iQ3 and AI marketplace (2024); Midjourney licence and Butterfly Embedded (2025)
8 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2011
Founding Ultrasound on Chip
Founding
2017
iQ Clearance and Launch
Launch / pricing
2020
iQ Plus and Pandemic Demand
Launch
2021
SPAC Merger with Longview
SPAC
2022
Blueprint Enterprise Software
Pivot (go-to-market and business model)
2023
Restructuring and DeVivo CEO
Restructuring / leadership change
2024
iQ3 and AI Marketplace
Launch / AI platform
2025
Midjourney License and Butterfly Embedded
Licensing / partnership