Luminate Medical Receives €6.4M in DTIF Funding to Deliver Cancer Care at Home

Galway-based medtech innovator Luminate Medical has been recently awarded €6.4 million under the Irish Government’s Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) to develop a smart, patient-centred system for at-home cancer treatment.

The funding will support the development of Lotus, a device that facilitates the safe administration of low-risk anti-cancer therapies from the comfort of the patient’s home. Lotus is part of Luminate’s wider mission to transform cancer care by enabling patients to manage treatment and recovery beyond the hospital setting.

Luminate Medical is leading the Lotus project in partnership with Gentian Health, University of Galway, and Trinity College Dublin. The consortium aims to shift aspects of systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT) into the home environment—providing a more convenient, empowering, and less physically taxing experience for patients undergoing cancer treatment.

The project supports a wider movement in healthcare towards decentralised care and aligns with national priorities to reduce hospital burden and enhance patient quality of life. By integrating advanced monitoring and side effect prevention into one intelligent system, the Lotus platform aims to address long-standing barriers to at-home oncology treatment.

“Two of the biggest challenges in cancer care right now are cost and capacity. Cancer care costs are continuing to rise on the macro and micro level: the US spent an estimated ~$210B on cancer care in 2020. On the other hand, cancer centres are struggling to meet demand. There has been a huge surge caused by increasing cancer incidence and improved survival, which means each patient today has more treatment visits than ever before. All of this results in over half of US oncology clinics being overbooked today,” explained Aaron Hannon, Co-Founder & CEO, Luminate Medical.

“Lotus is targeted at enabling patients to do low-risk procedures, like blood draws, pre-assessments, and some infusions, in the home. We are combining new medical device technology with provider partnerships and value-based care integrations that maintain provider margins, enable the same rigorous clinical oversight, and most importantly, reduce the financial and time-based burdens of cancer care on patients,” he added.

The DTIF funding builds on Luminate’s momentum following multiple earlier investments, including from the EIC Accelerator, Enterprise Ireland, and a $17.5 million Series A round secured in 2024. The company has gained recognition for its pioneering wearable technologies, including Lily, a compression therapy cap to prevent chemotherapy-induced hair loss, and Lilac, gloves and boots designed to reduce peripheral nerve damage.

Founded as a spin-out from the University of Galway in 2018, Luminate Medical is a long-standing member of the EIT Health network, participating in programmes such as Catapult pitching competition and winning the Audience Choice Award in 2022. The company is scaling rapidly, with expansion plans in Ireland and the United States as it prepares to launch clinical trials and seek regulatory approvals.

Discover EIT Health’s open programmes and unlock opportunities to accelerate the growth of your start-up.