GE Capital invests in R2 Technology

R2 Technology strengthened its relationship with GE last month with the signing of an $11 million financing agreement led by GE's financing arm, GE Capital. The financing will be used for working capital purposes as R2 prepares for an initial public offering that the company plans to launch some time this year. R2 did not disclose what percentage of the Los Altos, CA, company GE Capital now owns.

R2 has developed ImageChecker M1000, a computer-aided diagnosis product for flagging suspicious areas on mammograms. The product is awaiting Food and Drug Administration approval. R2 signed an agreement with GE Medical Systems in April that gives the Milwaukee company rights to the product when sold with full-field digital mammography systems (SCAN 4/29/98). The financing deal with GE Capital was not directly related to the GEMS agreement, according to an R2 spokesperson.