“Glucose is only the beginning”: London-based Sava Technologies raises €16.6 million for its wearable microsensor technology

Sava Technologies Ltd., a British MedTech startup innovating real-time molecular health monitoring, today announced €16.6 million in Series A funding to accelerate regulatory approval and commercialisation of its next-generation wearable.

The round was led by Balderton Capital and Pentland Ventures, with participation from new investors Norrsken VC and JamJar Investments. They were joined by other investors including True, Italian Founders Fund, Athletico Ventures and Exceptional Ventures. Bringing Sava’s total funding to €27.9 million.

“This clinical trial marks a pivotal moment not just for Sava, but for the future of biosensing and personalised healthcare,” said Rafaël Michali, Co-founder and Co-CEO of Sava. “The data generated so far has shown that our technology has the potential to match the performance of leading CGMs in the market today, without the invasiveness or high cost of filament-based systems. It paves the way for a completely novel approach to biosensing that can redefine the way we approach not only chronic disease management, but any health goal.”

Founded in 2019 by Imperial College London bioengineers Renato Circi and Rafaël Michali, the team has developed a multi-molecule biosensor capable of detecting biomarkers just beneath the skin, in real-time. This proprietary technology is powering their first product – a pain-free Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) device that streamlines molecular insights in real-time to your phone, at a fraction of the cost of current alternatives – as per the company.

Sava’s latest clinical trial, conducted independently by third-party investigators across sites in Oxford and Cambridge, involved 50 patients with Type 1 and insulin-dependent Type 2 diabetes.

As per data provided to EU-Startups, early results from the first 25 patients showed Sava’s proprietary technology delivered reliable, accurate glucose readings for up to 10 days of continuous wear – a milestone no other microsensor platform has allegedly been able to achieve to date. Most microsensor systems fail to last 5 days, and many struggle beyond 24 hours.

Today, only 1% of people with diabetes use CGMs, yet this group generates over €9.6 billion in annual sales, growing 10% year-on-year. Existing devices are often painful, expensive, and inaccessible.

“Understanding what’s going on in our bodies is the first step to improving our health,” said James Wise, Partner at Balderton. “Sava’s innovation has the potential to democratise access to glucose monitoring, as well as many other biomarkers, making them more practical for the millions of people who need them but can’t afford or tolerate the current options. Beyond diabetes, which alone is one of the greatest health challenges of our time, their platform opens the door to an entirely new era of personalised health monitoring.”

While tracking glucose is the first use case, Sava’s modular, multi-analyte sensing platform is claims to be capable of detecting additional molecules, providing users with the ability to unobtrusively monitor multiple biomarkers in real-time, paving the way for a future of preventative and personalised health.

“Glucose is only the beginning”, said Renato Circi, Co-founder and Co-CEO of Sava. “We have built a modular platform, capable of multi-molecule sensing. New molecules will create new use cases. What we’re building here is not just a device, but a whole new technological foundation for personalised healthcare, where anyone can use a biosensor to understand their health in real-time, at a molecular level.”

Sava’s team has grown to over 60+ people, including experts behind Abbott and Dexcom’s market-leading CGMs. The new capital will be used to further expand Sava’s team, advance automated manufacturing capabilities to reach target launch volumes, and accelerate the clinical validation of its microsensor technology.

Charlie Rubin, Investor at Pentland Ventures, added: “With its world-first technology, breakthrough clinical trial results, and new funding, Sava is positioned to lead the next wave of innovation in the $100B+ global health wearables market – beginning with CGM and creating a new market for real-time, multi-biomarker sensing. We are thrilled to be a part of the journey.”

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