Toronto-based startup Figure 1 raised CA$ 4 million in Series A from its investors including Rho Canada Ventures, Union Square Ventures, and Version One Ventures.

Figure 1 is akin to an Instagram for doctors. It is a medical imagery application that allows healthcare professionals to upload photos. Users of the application reportedly include board-certified doctors, registered nurses, medical and nursing students, physicians' assistants, and others who use it and share images for teaching and studying purposes, or even to request feedback about a possible diagnosis.

The startup was founded in 2012 by a medical doctor named Joshua Landy, a developer named Richard Penner, and Mr. Levey, a former journalist, who were able to raise CA$ 2 million in seed funding in December 2013.  

In surveys that he distributed, Landy reportedly found that doctors were already using their smartphones or other devices to text each other pictures, and to look up medical references. He then partnered with Penner and Levey to launch a platform that would allow medical professionals to share photos safely without compromising the privacy of their patients.