Sensome raises $9 million Series B round with equity investment from ASAHI INTECC
January 13th, 2020
Also available in:
The two companies start a new development program to integrate
Sensome’s tissue micro-sensor into Asahi’s world class guidewire
PARIS, France - January 13th, 2020 – Sensome, the company pioneering the connected medical device revolution with the world’s smallest biological tissue sensor, announced today the successful completion of a 9 million dollar financing round from its historical investors (Kurma Partners, Idinvest Partners, BNP Paribas Développement, Paris-Saclay Seed Fund) joined by Asahi Intecc Co., Ltd. from Japan, a world leader in guidewire technology. The funds raised will serve to test the clinical performance of Sensome’s first product Clotild®, a proprietary connected guidewire, and get it ready for market. Sensome and Asahi also agreed to a two-year development plan to design a new connected guidewire for the treatment of ischemic stroke, combining Sensome’s proprietary micro-sensor and Asahi’s Chikai guidewire.
Acute ischemic stroke, the leading cause of long-term disability, can now be treated by removing the clot blocking the brain blood vessel using mechanical thrombectomy devices. These devices are guided from the groin over a wire. Sensome transforms these guidewires with its tissue sensor to help physicians remove the clot on the first attempt, which is currently achieved in only one out of three cases and greatly improves patient prognosis.
“The future of interventional therapies depends on accessing the right information at the right time. We have developed the technology to empower medical devices with the required connectivity and data, be it in stroke or other medical fields”, said Franz Bozsak, CEO and co-founder of Sensome, and added, ”The partnership with Asahi will demonstrate how Sensome’s sensor technology can be integrated seamlessly into any high-performance medical device.”
“The smart guidewire for stroke aims to gather and utilize significant data regarding clot, contributing to better treatment outcomes in intravascular acute ischemic stroke. An easy-to-use high-performance guidewire with onboard sensor will allow the physician to know more about the clot without significant disruption to the current procedure,” explained Masahiko Miyata, CEO of Asahi Intecc. “The combination of Sensome's sophisticated sensor technology and Asahi's guidewire technology is highly synergetic. Asahi is confident that this collaboration will yield a revolutionary smart guidewire with excellent mechanical performance and unique capability.”
About Sensome
Sensome, a spin-off from CNRS and Ecole polytechnique (France), developed a revolutionary sensor technology that turns invasive medical devices into connected healthcare devices. The company’s sensing technology combines impedance-based micro-sensors with machine learning algorithms to instantly identify biological tissues upon contact with an unequaled predictive reliability. Its first application is the Clotild® connected guidewire for the treatment of ischemic stroke. Sensome's sensor technology can be deployed in multiple other medical fields, such as interventional cardiology and oncology.
About ASAHI INTECC Co., Ltd.
Asahi Intecc is recognized globally as a leading manufacturer and provider of guidewires and catheters among other medical devices used by hospitals for cardiovascular and neurovascular interventions in over 108 countries and regions across the globe, with the CHIKAI guidewire and FUBUKI guiding catheter product families forming the pillars of our neurovascular contribution. Asahi Intecc is a Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section listed company.
www.asahi-intecc.co.jp/en/
About Kurma Partners
Kurma Partners is a key European player in the financing of innovation in healthcare, biotechnology and digital diagnostics, notably through Kurma Biofund I and II, Kurma Diagnostics and strategic partnerships with prestigious European research and medical institutions.
About BNP Paribas Développement
BNP Paribas Développement, a BNP Paribas Group subsidiary founded in 1988, invests its own capital directly in promising small, medium-sized and mid-cap companies. As a minority shareholder in these targeted companies, BNP Paribas Développement seeks to promote their growth and ensure their longer-term prosperity by facilitating ownership transfer. It manages a portfolio of 400 companies including 50 startups.
www.bnpparibasdeveloppement.com
About Paris-Saclay Seed Fund
Paris-Saclay Seed Fund was launched in 2016 as a unique initiative to support the most promising startups emerging from the leading research & innovation cluster Université Paris-Saclay. The Fund is managed by two renowned venture capital firms: Partech, a global investment firm specializing in digital and new technologies, and Kurma Partners, a leading venture capital group in Life Sciences. This 50M€ fund invests in Seed and Series A startups.
About Idinvest Partners
Idinvest Partners is a leading European mid-market private equity firm. With €8bn under management, the firm has developed several areas of expertise including innovative startup venture capital transactions; mid-market private debt, i.e. senior and subordinated debt; primary and secondary investment and private equity advisory services. Founded in 1997, Idinvest Partners used to belong to the Allianz Group until 2010, when it branched out as an independent firm. In January 2018, Idinvest Partners became a subsidiary of Eurazeo, a leading global investment company, with a diversified portfolio of €17.7bn in assets under management, including nearly €11.6bn from investment partners, invested in nearly 400 companies.
For more information please contact Franz Bozsak, press@sensome.com or +33 1 85 37 07 77 or +33 1 85 37 07 82
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
