Galway-based Versono Medical has raised €6.7m in new funding to boost its bid to bring its Fastwire intravascular medical device to market.
The new device technology platform aims to reduce the need for more invasive and traumatic surgical procedures.
This leads to better outcomes for patients who could otherwise be facing the prospect of amputation and even death.
The MedTech start-up was founded by Finbar Dolan and Hugh O'Donoghue in 2018.
It raised its latest funds from existing investors, including DHKN, BVP and private investors from the medical device sector, as well as state investors the Western Development Commission and Enterprise Ireland.
Versono said its second round of funding was significantly oversubscribed.
The new funds will now be used to complete clinical studies and to qualify the company's strategic medical device technology in 2023, for its initial clinical indication to cross arterial blockages and carry therapies to treat blockages.
Versono is based in Parkmore West in Galway and it has grown its capability over the past four years.
It now employs 22 staff in full and part-time roles and has advanced its technology to meet the needs of the global vascular market.
Its Fastwire product uses ultrasonic technology to break through complex blockages in patients with Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI), the most severe and advanced form of peripheral vascular disease.
Versono CEO Finbar Dolan said that Covid highlighted the extent of the vulnerability of patients with diabetes to other comorbidities.
"It also highlighted how healthcare systems can be overwhelmed. The fallout from a health perspective, from PAD, is enormous. It must be remembered that you can appear completely healthy and have this awful disease. The outcomes for patients eventually diagnosed with CLI is similar to many diagnosed with an aggressive cancer," he said.
"Fastwire is compact and fits on a shelf. Rival devices have consoles that are much larger and require more staff with specialised training to run them. Fastwire is designed to assist physicians help more patients and enable safer, more successful and speedier, minimally invasive treatment of the most difficult lower limb lesions or blockages," he added.
