4 health start-up funding success stories

Securing start-up funding for any company is tough, but for medtech, biotech, and digital health start-ups attracting investment presents unique challenges due to the complexity of the industries. In this article, we explore start-up funding challenges and hear from EIT Health-supported start-ups who overcame these to attract investment, with our help.  

The three main challenges that start-ups in the healthcare innovation space can face are: 

• High capital requirement 

• Regulatory approval 

• Scalability 

Start-ups in these industries often require significant upfront capital for research, development and clinical trials which means any investment needs to be viewed as long-term. For example, development and testing costs for biotech companies working on new therapies and drugs can be huge compared to the software-based approach of digital health start-ups, but integrating those digital health solutions into existing healthcare systems and ensuring privacy and security compliance can also increase costs. 

Another costly expense for medtech and biotech start-ups, in terms of money and time, is getting approval from bodies like the European Medical Agency (EMA) or the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). And for investors, who are nervous of long timelines and the potential for failure, this makes investing in early-stage health start-up funding risky. 

At the end of the day, start-up funding is a business and investors are looking to invest in businesses with the potential to scale and generate substantial returns on investment, meaning companies need to prove that their solution not only addresses a significant healthcare problem, but that it is easily scalable. For medtech and biotech companies, this often means proving clinical and cost effectiveness, while digital health start-ups need to additionally prove that their solutions can integrate seamlessly into healthcare systems and workflows, which can vary widely across markets. 

With tailored support to increase the attractiveness of their businesses to investors, many EIT Health-supported start-ups have overcome these challenges and closed successful funding rounds this year. We spoke to 4 start-ups about their fundraising successes to find out more. 

MOWOOT secures €600k euros bridging fund to drive international expansion 

About MOWOOT 

MOWOOT is a Barcelona based start-up/scaleup company that has developed the first non-drug and non-invasive solution to severe and chronic bowel dysfunctions, such as neurogenic bowel disorder, opioid-induced constipation and/or irritable bowel syndrome with constipation symptoms. Their unique ‘Intermittent Colonic Exoperistalsis’ treatment is based on pneumatic soft-robotic technology, controlled and individualised to each patient by digital, real-time pressure sensors. These externally apply sequential pressure to the large intestine to emulate natural colonic movement patterns, move the feces and stimulate healthy bowel movements. Daily 20-minute treatments have been shown to result in a higher clinical responder rate and adherence to treatment than traditional approaches. 

Fundraising success 

MOWOOT has recently raised a €600k bridge funding round involving strategic partners from Germany and Spain, and the European crowdfunding platform Capital Cell. These funds will be used to drive the company’s international expansion, especially within the UK market, where they expect to achieve public healthcare reimbursement for their device in 2025. 

How EIT Health’s support helped MOWOOT become more attractive to investors 

Although the company is already generating revenue through early adopters, the current challenges mainly revolve around scaling up towards the final business model of broad reimbursement by public healthcare providers in several EU international markets. This is a critical phase in which traditional Venture Capitalists (VCs) might still be reluctant to invest, however EIT Health’s support has helped MOWOOT identify and contact several strategic industrial partners with the potential to support the company with investments and further growth via distributors etc. 

EIT Health has supported MOWOOT from their early beginnings, which has enabled them to develop a product that is aligned with real market needs and build an international network early on, making MOWOOT an attractive target for strategic partners and preparing their exit strategy. 

Pan Cancer T secures €4.25M seed extension funding to complete pre-clinical studies and progress CMC activities 

About Pan Cancer T 

Netherlands-based Pan Cancer T is an immunotherapy company developing next-generation TCR-T cell therapies for solid cancer. The company’s products are based on a form of T cell therapy called TCR-T therapy, that exploit the abilities of T cells, the primary natural immune effector cell, to recognise and kill tumour cells. 

Fundraising success 

The €4.25M in seed extension funding will allow the company to create value by completing pre-clinical studies and progressing chemistry, manufacturing and control (CMC) activities for its lead product “PCT1:CO-STIM”. This TCR-T cell product features an IP-protected T cell receptor (TCR) highly specific for ROPN1, a novel tumour-restricted target strongly expressed in over 90% of patients with triple negative breast cancer and melanoma. It also incorporates a next generation modification to counteract the hostile tumour microenvironment, aiming to improve clinical response duration.   

Additionally, the funding will support Pan Cancer T’s progression of earlier-stage pipeline projects targeting colorectal and ovarian cancers and the development of a second next generation engineering approach.  

How EIT Health’s support helped Pan Cancer T attract health start-up funding 

Securing a new investor was critical to the successful closing of Pan Cancer T’s latest financing round and participating in the EIT Health Catapult programme helped new first-time CEO, Rachel Abbott, prepare for this process. Throughout the programme, Rachel’s ‘Super Mentor’, Roland Kozlowski, provided a lot of useful advice around the pitch and the company’s strategy in general. Then, during the pitch training sessions, each of the five trainers also provided different insights that contributed to further improve the final pitch. 

Having received this support from EIT Health, Pan Cancer T were successful in convincing new investor, Innovation Quarter, to participate in the seed extension fundraising round together with their existing investors, thereby enabling Pan Cancer T to advance their lead product toward the clinic, offering new hope for patients with triple negative breast cancer. 

WIVI Vision closed a €4 million Series A funding round to explore growth opportunities 

About WIVI Vision 

Founded in 2016, Spanish-based WIVI Vision is transforming visual health through its innovative technology. It combines Artificial Intelligence, 3D immersive visualisation, gamification, and Big Data to assess and train visual skills. It does so by analysing up to 100 parameters in 5 key visual areas in just 12 minutes, compared to 60 minutes using traditional methods, and provides personalised training programs tailored to individual needs, improving outcomes in less than three months. This approach enhances the user experience through engaging, real-time tailored video games and enables eye care specialists to deliver accurate diagnoses based on objective clinical data, effectively tackling issues such as reading difficulties, concentration problems, and visual fatigue.  

Since 2016, WIVI Vision has provided its services to 14,500 users, demonstrating its significant impact on visual health, and has established partnerships with major optical groups, ophthalmological centres across Spain and recently in the United States. 

Fundraising success 

In February 2024, WIVI Vision successfully closed a €4 million Series A funding round, a significant milestone that underscores its growth trajectory and potential in the vision industry. This investment, led by strategic partners such as Adara Ventures, HearstLab, and AVANÇSA, along with prominent banks and previous round investors, brings the total funds raised by WIVI Vision to €7 million. This new capital will empower WIVI Vision to solidify and expand its presence in Spain, enter the U.S. market, and explore new international opportunities. With this funding, WIVI Vision also aims to improve its technology, expand and introduce new services to enhance its offerings, and hire more people to the team.  

As part of this expansion, WIVI Vision recognises the importance of increasing its workforce and building a robust internal team to support the company’s objectives, ultimately reinforcing its position in the democratisation of access to quality visual care and amplifying its positive impact on overall global health. 

How EIT Health’s support helped WIVI Vision enhance its attractiveness to investors 

Challenges 

Attracting investment in a fast-paced, highly competitive visual technology sector posed several challenges for WIVI Vision. The company continually faces intense competition from numerous firms offering digital health solutions in the vision field, compelling it to constantly innovate and differentiate its offerings to maintain market share. Additionally, the rapid pace of technological change threatened to render products obsolete, requiring WIVI Vision to stay ahead of trends and advancements in this field.  

Concerns about cybersecurity also constituted a concern for the company, as its reliance on digital technologies meant that any data breaches could jeopardise user privacy and trust. Furthermore, navigating the complexities of regulatory compliance, especially regarding medical certification, posed further challenges that hinder impede growth and operational efficiency. Lastly, securing adequate funding was essential for maintaining research and development efforts, marketing initiatives, and expansion plans, underscoring further the importance of a successful fundraising process.  

EIT Health’s support 

EIT Health played a crucial role in helping WIVI Vision address these challenges and enhance its attractiveness to investors. EIT Health provided the start-up with valuable insights into best practices for business strategy, through mentoring, market studies on new countries, and access to a network of industry experts, and international competitions.  

WIVI Vision were Catapult finalists in 2017 and were recognised on several other of our accelerator programmes in the years that followed. They were awarded grants through our programmes that helped them launch to market and approach international contacts. EIT Health’s support enabled WIVI Vision to refine product offerings, making them more robust against market fluctuations and helping us on international challenges. 

 

Neuroventis recently acquired by Belgian Scale-Up Cascador Health 

About Neuroventis 

Belgian-based Neuroventis was founded eight years ago to address the lack of tools available for epilepsy patients to track and understand their condition, which was typically managed on paper. Neuroventis developed a digital health solution that tackles critical gaps in epilepsy and headache care by providing patients with digital tools to monitor and manage their symptoms, while also equipping neurologists with comprehensive data to enhance treatment decisions. Neuroventis also assists pharmaceutical companies by offering an engaging tool to collect patient reported outcomes in the context of clinical trials or by providing them anonymised real-word evidence. 

Acquisition by Cascador Health 

Neuroventis was recently acquired by Cascador Health, a Belgian company specialising in data insights for pharmaceutical companies. This acquisition enables Neuroventis to accelerate its growth and further develop its vision. Cascador Health’s focus on neurology as one of its three strategic therapeutic areas and its experience in data collection throughout the product lifecycle make this a synergistic fit. The acquisition will provide Neuroventis with additional resources, allowing it to expand the platform, explore new neurological domains, and enhance the services it offers to pharmaceutical companies. 

How EIT Health supported Neuroventis 

One of the significant challenges Neuroventis faced during its growth was gaining traction in the clinical space, particularly with neurologists and pharmaceutical companies. Convincing doctors to adopt the solution required time and persistence, as healthcare professionals are naturally cautious about integrating new tools into clinical care. Additionally, scaling the solution for use in clinical trials was a complex task.  

EIT Health played a pivotal role in helping Neuroventis overcome these hurdles by facilitating a key project early on, called SeizeIT2. This EIT Health innovation project provided Neuroventis with valuable experience in conducting clinical trials and positioned them as a credible partner for larger pharmaceutical companies, like UCB. 

EIT Health’s support in those early stages also allowed Neuroventis to gain essential connections within the healthcare ecosystem, including access to top European epilepsy hospitals and pharmaceutical partners. This exposure and the hands-on experience with clinical trials were instrumental in making Neuroventis more attractive to potential acquirers and helped in the acquisition by Cascador Health. 

Discover our Catapult programme and learn how we could make you more attractive to investors. 

Has your healthcare start-up recently closed a priced equity funding round? 

EIT Health has launched a new call, known as the Transformative Health Instrument, which gives start-ups who have recently closed a priced equity funding round in 2023 or 2024 access to significant further funding.  

Learn more about the Transformative Health Instrument Call and apply now.