Helsingborg-based Acorai, a startup medical device manufacturer from Sweden, has announced closing an oversubscribed €4.1 million seed round led by Solardis Health Ventures, with participation from KHP Ventures, Carma Fund and other US investors. Significant follow-on investment was taken from existing investors from across Sweden and the EU.
The capital will help to finance its clinical studies and move towards regulatory approval, which comes off the back of €2.3 million in non-dilutive grant and €10 million in future equity financing from the European Innovation Council (EIC).
After designation as a Breakthrough Device by the US FDA in August 2023, Acorai started its global clinical study, CAPTURE-HF, and aims to have its monitoring system ready for clinical use. Concluding in 2024, the study aims to demonstrate the performance of the device through a 1200-patient catheterization study.
The Chief Clinical Advisor to Acorai, Dr Andrew J Sauer, commented: “With CAPTURE-HF, the team has really focused on the science to enable the fullest use of this device when it hits the market. This funding further validates that Acorai is a uniquely positioned company to change the paradigm of how patients with heart failure are managed in traditional and acute care settings. To my knowledge, this is the only company that has recognized and is adequately addressing the glaringly obvious unmet need within the acute heart failure workflow. Raising capital in this environment is tougher than it was even 18 months ago, so it’s a huge achievement of the management team and an example of how truly scalable this platform could be in the right hands … congrats”
Founded in 2019, the team, led by Filip Peters, Jakob Gelberg, Kasper Bourdette, and Matthew Mace, is planning the completion of their study in 2024, and through active engagement with regulators, Acorai is targeting US market access by 2025.
The focus now is to complete clinical testing, targeting a larger capital raise ahead of commercial launch in 2025. Acorai will continue to have a presence at conferences through 2024 with upcoming trips to THT, Boston and ACC, Atlanta for CSO Matthew Mace and CEO Filip Peters presenting at VIVE in Los Angeles in February and the LSI Emerging Medtech conference in Dana Point in March.
