Sava, an innovative medical device company based in London that is developing a wearable platform for biosensors, announced Friday that it had secured $8M (approximately EUR7.4M), as part of a Seed round led by Balderton Capital.
This funding round brings London-based startup’s total raised to $13M (approximately EUR12.1M) from leading VC companies, angel investors, European Union and UK Government (through Innovate UK).
The funds will be used to expand the company’s team, design a next-generation product with high-throughput capabilities, and demonstrate its clinical performance.
SAVA: Development of an innovative wearable platform for biosensors
SAVA was founded by Renato Cicci and Rafael Michali from Imperial College London. They have developed a micro-sensing system to detect molecules within the interstitial liquid, just beneath the skin.
This smart, connected patch has been designed in order to streamline data and deliver it straight to the user’s smartphone.
Renato Circi is the co-founder of SAVA. He says: “At SAVA, we are tackling avoidable illnesses by building a system for health monitoring. Our microsensor will revolutionise the healthcare industry by making world-leading technology for monitoring available to everyone. We can achieve our goal to create a new paradigm in healthcare that is preventative, personalised and painless with this capital.
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The microsensor of the company is aimed at glucose monitoring for diabetics, who are projected to affect 1 in 8 adults (roughly 783 million people) by 2045.
Diabetes patients rely on accurate monitoring technologies to manage their condition. CGMs are now the standard for diabetes care in a growing number health institutions around the world.
Diabetes patients rely on accurate monitoring technologies to ensure proper management. The use of Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) is becoming more common in health institutions.
The UK NHS plans to provide CGMs for all individuals with Type I Diabetes by 2025.
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has recently approved Sava to conduct clinical trials with patients with diabetes. This will help Sava validate their breakthrough technology on a large scale.
The MHRA’s validation process is among the most rigorous in the world. It assesses the safety and performance as well as the design for the upcoming clinical trial.
Rafael Michali, SAVA co-founder, says: “SAVA’s goal is to transform healthcare into a preventative system by empowering people with easy access to real-time insights about their health. The current healthcare system is unable to meet this demand. SAVA will fill this gap by providing a foundational architecture for a new biosensing eco-system.
SAVA’s microsensor not only offers real-time, pain-free insights for users, but it will also do so at an affordable, accessible price. A clinical study is scheduled to begin with world-leading researchers from the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge.
The investor
Balderton capital has been supporting Europe’s top founders for more than 20 years, from Seed to IPO.
The VC invests in a wide range of technology sectors, including fintech, B2B software, digital health, mobile, gaming, and marketplaces. It has a track record of backing fintech, digital health, mobility and gaming companies.
Darktrace, Depop and Flywire are among the companies that have invested in the past.
Balderton’s current portfolio includes Aircall (formerly Beauty Pie), Contentful, Dream Games (formerly GoCardless), GoCardless, JOKR, Lendable, Matillon, Merama, Revolut, Tibber, Vestiaire Collective, Voi, Wayve, and Zoe.
James Wise says, “This product could be the defining one in personal health monitoring for the next decade. It is also an essential tool to diagnose and treat many chronic diseases.” Renato and Rafael are a team with a compelling vision for chronic disease management, prevention and care. They also have the credibility and expertise to implement in this vital area.
Exor Ventures is Exor N.V.’s early-stage investment arm. The company invests from Seed to Series-B in early-stage businesses across healthcare, mobility and SaaS/AI.
In the last six years, the company invested in leading companies such as Mistral AI (formerly known as Mistral AI), Via, Brex (formerly known Brex), Qonto, Alan (formerly Neuralink), and Iambic Therapeutics.
“SAVA’s novel technology and unique approach underline its potential as a foundation for a new healthcare system.” It provides a platform for other companies to build on that will address the needs of patients and healthcare systems.