BiancaMed, a leading medical technology company, announced today that it has received an additional €6 million in funding. This second round funding was led by pan-European venture capital firm Seventure Partners. This is the first time that Seventure has invested outside of continental Europe. Three of BiancaMed’s existing investors ePlanet Ventures, Enterprise Ireland and ResMed also participated in this round. Go4Venture advised the company in its fund-raising process.
BiancaMed has developed and is marketing SleepMinder™, an accurate, contactless and convenient device for the measurement of sleep and breathing in the home.
This new capital will allow BiancaMed to expand its core team, accelerate the launch of several innovative consumer products with existing ‘go-to-market’ partners targeting the wellness space. It will also enable the company to continue the development of clinical products targeting unmet needs in areas, such as sleep apnoea screening and disease management.
BiancaMed co-founder and CEO Conor Hanley said, "With this new financing we will be able to accelerate the commercial development of our proprietary non-contact, sleep monitoring technology. It is a strong validation of our firm’s technology and strategy that we have secured investment from a new, value-add investor such as Seventure and the continued support of our existing investors. We look forward to working with our investors and BiancaMed will undoubtedly benefit from the wealth of healthcare experience that non-executive board members bring to the table.”
Dr Conor Hanley, co-founder & CEO, BiancaMed
BiancaMed is headquartered in NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre at University College Dublin. The technology at the core of BiancaMed’s SleepMinder™ was initially developed at UCD’s School of Electrical, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering by Dr Conor Heneghan, Chief Scientific Officer, and Dr Philip de Chazal, Chief Technology Officer.
Donald Fitzmaurice, BiancaMed’s Chairman and a Partner with ePlanet commented, "We have been strong supporters of BiancaMed since our initial investment in the company in 2005 and we have been impressed with the progress the team has been able to make from a technology and business perspective in the past three years. Sleep is increasingly recognised as a major component of health and wellness, alongside diet and exercise. We expect the market for sleep monitoring products to grow strongly in the coming years and BiancaMed is very well positioned to benefit from this growth. The company is at an exciting point in its commercial development.”
Mark Payne, Director of ResMed’s Sleep Business Unit in Europe said, “Too many patients suffer unnecessarily from sleep-disordered breathing and related co-morbidities. This step toward full commercialisation of BiancaMed’s unique contactless technologies will provide hope to many patients and clinicians searching for easier access to novel, accurate, and innovative SDB screening solutions.”
Seventure General Partner, Isabelle de Cremoux said "BiancaMed is a unique company with a breakthrough technology in the massive, $20 billion global sleep market. With technology and market potential already validated through partnership agreements with leading corporations and an impressive product pipeline in new areas such as heart failure monitoring, BiancaMed offers a compelling investment opportunity for us in the Life Sciences area. BiancaMed is Seventure’s first investment outside of continental Europe and we look forward to working with Conor and other members of this entrepreneurial executive team."
Iain Wilcock of Seventure will join BiancaMed’s Board of Directors. Wilcock comes to BiancaMed with extensive experience of Healthcare investing. He has previously served as a non-executive director of a number of companies, including Avidex, Oxxon Therapeutics, Xention, and Vivacta.
ENDS
17 July 2009
For further information contact Micéal Whelan, NovaUCD, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, t: +353 1 716 3712.
Editors Notes
About BiancaMed LtdFounded in 2003, BiancaMed is a medical technology company based in Dublin, and Sunnyvale, California. BiancaMed has developed and is commercialising SleepMinderTM; a contactless, accurate device for the measurement of sleep and breathing in the home setting. Major shareholders include Enterprise Ireland, DFJ ePlanet Ventures, ResMed and now Seventure. The core of its proprietary technology is a sensitive radio frequency motion sensor that can detect respiration and movement without being connected to the human body. The sensor incorporates sophisticated biometric software that converts the motion data into a measurement of sleep. BiancaMed is working with several major corporations to launch a range of consumer products in 2010. In addition, BiancaMed is developing a sleep apnoea diagnostic product and the company has launched a sleep monitoring service. About Seventure Partners
As one of the leading venture capital firms in Europe, Seventure manages €500m and has being investing since 1997 in innovative businesses with high growth potential in Information and Communication Technologies and in Life Sciences. The Life Sciences team invests all over Europe. Its four preferred sectors are Biotech & Pharmaceuticals, Medtech, Industrial Biotech & Cleantech, and Lifestyle Healthcare & nutrition. A typical investment ranges from €500k to €10m per round, up to €20m per company, from early to later stage. Seventure is a subsidiary of Natixis Private Equity, the asset management company of Natixis, with over €4.2b in private equity investments.
About ePlanet Ventures
ePlanet Ventures is a leading global venture capital firm headquartered in Silicon Valley, with offices in London, New Delhi, Bangalore, Singapore, Shanghai, and Beijing, as well as a presence in Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo.
ePlanet Ventures has invested in over 80 innovative high-growth companies world-wide, resulting in a number of landmark exits including Baidu (NASDAQ listing in August 2005, presently circa. $12b market cap), Skype (sold to eBay for approx. $3b in 2005), and Focus Media (NASDAQ listing 2005, presently circa. $6b market cap).
ePlanet Ventures is one of the leaders in promoting the cross-border migration of technological innovation, business models and entrepreneurship. The Fund invests in sectors such as the Internet (consumer Internet, Internet services and applications), wireless communications and applications, VoIP and other broadband services, entertainment, semiconductor design, medical technology and other emerging services sectors. ePlanet also seeks to make investments in traditional, established industries where business-model improvements have the power to create category-dominant companies in the world's fastest growing markets.
ePlanet Ventures won the China Venture Capital Association Exit of the Year 2005 for Baidu, and the European Venture Capital Association Deal of the Year 2005 Award for Skype, and has been profiled in FORBES Feb 2008 amongst the Top 10 global venture capital investors.
About ResMed
ResMed is a leading developer, manufacturer, and distributor of medical equipment for treating, diagnosing, and managing sleep-disordered breathing and other respiratory disorders. We are dedicated to developing innovative products to improve the lives of those who suffer from these conditions and to increasing awareness among patients and healthcare professionals of the potentially serious health consequences of untreated sleep-disordered breathing.
About Go4Venture
Go4Venture is an investment bank specializing in advising on and executing growth strategies for fast-growing innovative companies and their shareholders, including capital raising, M&A and valuation services.Bringing together an international team of seasoned professionals that combines investment banking, venture capital and technology industry expertise, Go4Venture has become particularly well-known for its international equity private placements services, where it has reached a position of leadership. For the past 10 years, Go4Venture has advised leaders in all areas of telecoms (www.blyk.com), media (www.carpo.com) technology (www.aldebaran-robotics.com), internet (www.webjam.com) and clean technology (www.electrops.it). Go4Venture Advisers LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
About NovaUCD
NovaUCD is University College Dublin’s Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre. NovaUCD is responsible for the commercialisation of intellectual property arising from UCD research and for the development of co-operation with industry and business. NovaUCD has been funded through a unique public-private partnership that includes AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, UCD and Xilinx.