Irish healthtech startup FeelTect secures €1.5m investment for connected wound treatment technology

FeelTect, a connected-health, wound care company, announced the successful closing of €1.5 million investment from strategic Irish and international investors. The funding will create additional clinical collaborations, expand strategic partnerships, and advance commercialisation of the company's wound treatment monitoring technology.

The funding also enables the company to see a significant expansion of its team, with additional hires including roles in R&D, manufacturing, project management, clinical affairs, and commercial development. While most roles will be based in FeelTect's headquarters in Spiddal, Galway, commercial and clinical roles will also expand to the USA and Europe, facilitating the company's market entry internationally.

Investors from multiple Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN) syndicates, including Irrus Investments, MedTech Syndicate, and Boole Investment Syndicate, along with CAJU Venture Partners, joined the existing FeelTect shareholders, while the WDC added to their existing investment in the company. The €1.5 million raised in the current round follows an earlier €1.2 million Seed round closed in 2022, which was supported by strategic healthcare investors and State agencies, including Enterprise Ireland, Dogpatch Labs, and the WDC.

Founded in 2019, FeelTect emerged from BioInnovate Ireland, a renowned, clinical needs-led innovation programme. During clinical immersion in Irish and US hospital systems, Founder and CEO, Dr Andrew Cameron, identified an unmet clinical need for the safe, effective, and consistent application of compression therapy, which is the primary treatment for millions of people worldwide with venous leg ulcers (VLUs). Studies show that 30% of VLUs are not healed within a year, causing significant impacts to patients' quality of life, while the amount of money spent on treating VLU patients in the UK alone equates to 40% of all cancer costs combined. To address these issues, Co-Founders, Dr Darren Burke and Prof. Garry Duffy, joined Dr Cameron as part of an Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund project within the University of Galway, before successfully spinning out as FeelTect in 2020.

FeelTect's flagship product, Tight Alright™, is the world's first connected-health technology for measuring and remotely monitoring sub-bandage pressure during compression therapy. The Tight Alright technology is comprised of an advanced wearable device, with multiple pressure sensors, that wirelessly connects with a digital platform. The technology unburdens care providers by enabling significant advancements in treatment application, patient self-management, and remote monitoring of compression therapy effectiveness. Furthermore, by facilitating optimal and consistent provision of gold-standard compression therapy, Tight Alright will significantly reduce healing times and treatment costs, whilst enhancing the autonomy and quality of life for patients.

The company's achievements to date have positioned the Tight Alright technology for international market entry in 2024. FeelTect's significant milestones include securing intellectual property on the technology's hardware and data transfer system, completing design for manufacturing, registering the device with the FDA and CE Mark, receiving ISO 13485 accreditation for their quality management system, and conducting international patient clinical studies that demonstrate improved application of targeted wound compression. The company has also received several accolades and industry recognitions, including winning the top prize at European Wound Management Association Innovation Forum, top prize at the Lohmann & Rauscher Accelerator Program, and Start-Up Technology Company of the Year at the CIO & IT Leaders Awards, all within 2023.

Andrew Cameron, Founder and CEO, FeelTect: "We're extremely grateful for the trust that our investors have shown in supporting our vision for improving the treatment of patients' chronic wounds. We recognise the challenging nature of the current economic environment for investment and we are determined to make the most of the opportunities we've been given. This funding will have an immense benefit to conducting further efficacy and health economic validations of Tight Alright, building our team, and realising commercial launch in USA and Europe. We're also fortunate in the calibre of investors on our newly appointed Board, which will provide invaluable advice and guidance on our journey forward."

Colin Henehan, Chairperson, HBAN MedTech Syndicate: "The MedTech Syndicate is excited to be supporting FeelTect in their development of a truly novel pressure monitoring system for compression therapy, which addresses a large global healthcare issue".

Lourens Verweij, Incoming Chairperson, FeelTect: "The new investment will enable us to bring the company to a next level, and further supports the very positive feedback we are receiving from clinicians, patients and industry partners in the USA and Europe". This positive support was echoed by Ms Emily Ryan, Director of Irrus Investments, who added "Irrus are delighted to be an investor in FeelTect. We believe that this is a very exciting technology, that can revolutionise the wound care space, led by a capable and dynamic team; we are very much looking forward to being part of the future of FeelTect."

The investment in the current round will complement FeelTect's recent Disruptive Technology Innovation Fund award, consisting of a total of €4.6 million in consortium funding. As part of this funding, FeelTect lead a consortium with partners University of Galway, Armour by Granite, and Odyssey VC, to incorporate additional sensor and user inputs into the wound treatment monitoring system. By capturing a more comprehensive overview of a patient's treatment via remote monitoring, and applying advanced data modelling methods, the project aims to redefine standards of care for greatly improved patient outcomes and significantly reduced treatment costs.

www.feeltect.com