University College Dublin Engineering Spin-out Secures €6 Million to Accelerate Development of Groundbreaking Blood Flow Tech

(opens in a new window)LaNua Medical, an Irish medtech device start-up and a spin-out of University College Dublin (UCD), today announced it has raised €6 million in seed funding. The company is developing a groundbreaking technology that makes it easy, safe, and cheaper for doctors to treat internal bleeding, vascular malformations and many benign and malignant tumours.

The funding round was co-led by Elkstone and Atlantic Bridge, with participation from Enterprise Ireland and Furthr VC. The funding will be used to accelerate product development and market access.

La Nua was founded in 2024 with the support of NovaUCD by interventional radiologist Dr Cormac Farrelly, UCD School of Medicine; Tom Fitzmaurice (ex-Medtronic VP); and UCD School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering biomedical engineers, Dr Eoin O'Cearbhaill and Dr Sajjad Amiri. The new ECORE™ device aims to help improve patient outcomes, lower hospital costs, minimize duration of hospital stays, and reduce stress and procedure times for practitioners.

LaNua’s pioneering ECORE™ device will help to modernize embolization procedures – a technique used by surgeons and radiologists to control the flow of blood in certain areas of the body. Designed to enhance the safe and targeted delivery of tools used to block blood flow, the umbrella-shaped device will enter blood vessels deep within the body and form an occlusive barrier.

In a major step for embolization procedures, the ECORE​​™ device allows doctors to restrict blood flow in a targeted segment of veins or arteries while still allowing ancillary medical tools (guidewires and catheters) to pass through it. The innovative device design will safely complement liquid and microparticle embolization including localised intravascular radiation procedures performed by Interventional Radiologists worldwide. Exposure to X-ray radiation is also reduced for both patient and practitioner, and lowers the risk of human errors like inadvertently blocking blood flow to healthy adjacent organs. 

Speaking on the announcement CEO and Co-founder of LaNua Medical Tom Fitzmaurice said, “We are delighted to complete this €6 million seed round bringing on board sophisticated and experienced Medical Technology investors in Ireland and the United States. It will enable our team to hire additional skilled resources, develop a range of devices to meet the growing demands of embolization in the Interventional Radiology medical community and gain entry into our first market in the United States.” 

Currently, the global embolization market is worth (opens in a new window)$2.2bn and is expected to reach (opens in a new window)$3.88bn in 2031, driven by increased incidences of vascular diseases, cancer and growing demand for minimally invasive surgeries.  

Consultant Interventional Radiologist, CMO and Co-founder Dr Cormac Farrelly, said “Having performed thousands of embolization procedures, I strongly believe this next-generation embolization device is a transformative platform technology. It will not just make existing procedures safer and more effective, but will also enable new clinical applications for minimally invasive embolization procedures worldwide.”

The device can be used in oncology, and in the treatment of benign tumors, malformations and hemorrhage. LaNua is initially targeting treatments used to enable liver cancer patients to safely receive potentially curative surgery. For example, a combination of embolization and surgery has increased 5-year survival rates by 45% for colorectal cancer, which spreads to the liver in 60% of patients. By improving the efficacy and safety of targeted therapeutic delivery in embolization, LaNua’s ECORE™ device can potentially push survival rates above 80%.

“LaNua Medical exemplifies Ireland's continued excellence and innovation in the MedTech sector,” said, Niall McEvoy, Head of Venture, Elkstone.

“As an early investor in pioneering companies like LetsGetChecked, Luminate Medical and Croi Valve, we at Elkstone have seen firsthand how Irish Health Tech and MedTech start-ups can revolutionise patient care on a global scale. LaNua, led by an experienced founder team, has the potential to become another great success story, and we look forward to supporting the company on that journey.”

Dominik Leisi, Investment Manager, Atlantic Bridge, said, “We are delighted to co-lead the LaNua Medical Seed round and support the team on their mission to launch the ECORE™ devices in 2027. We are confident that LaNua Medical, combining decades of industry and clinical expertise, has built an excellent foundation on which to successfully advance the development of the ECORE™ devices with the ultimate goal of improved patient outcomes.”

LaNua will seek international partners to build out its clinical and commercial value proposition as part of its efforts to gain access to multiple markets including the US. The company is currently hiring for roles across R&D and Quality based in NovaUCD and in ATU iHub in Galway to support development, design validation and regulatory approval.

Damien McCarney, Senior Development Advisor, Enterprise Ireland, said, “Enterprise Ireland is delighted to have partnered with LaNua Medical at each stage of its rapid growth journey through research commercialisation, our flagship High Potential Start-up Programme and in international markets. The company’s groundbreaking technology not only has the potential to transform patient outcomes globally but also reinforces Ireland's position as a leader in MedTech innovation. We look forward to working with the team as they continue to scale internationally and bring their transformative devices to the US market.”

LaNua Medical was the winner of Enterprise Ireland's Big Ideas competition 2024 and represented Ireland at the 2024 Pegasus Startup World Cup in San Francisco.