Surgical simulation software developer FEops said today it raised $7.2 million (EU €6 million) in funding to support its HeartGuide transcatheter valve implantation simulation software.
The round was led by newly invested Valiance and joined by existing investors Capricorn and PMV, the Gent, Belgium-based company said.
FEops’ flagship product is the HeartGuide platform, which use advanced computer simulations to provide both clinicians and valve manufacturers with insights into the interaction between valves and patient anatomy preoperatively to improve clinical outcomes, the company claims.
“The shift towards transcatheter-based solutions has been a game changer in TAVI and is rapidly expanding to soon dominate the structural heart space. HeartGuide has unparalleled potential to drive development of structural heart innovation by accelerating research, including improving and de-risking the management of high-stake clinical trials. FEops is uniquely positioned to be the partner of choice for heart device manufacturers seeking to complement their offering to physicians by advancing pre-operative planning and significantly increase adoption of novel transcatheter valve therapies,” Valiance CEO Jan Pensaert said in a press release.
FEops said the HeartGuide product is backed by “strong preclinical data,” and touted the system as a way for clinicians and manufacturers to integrate valve design and patient-specific testing virtually, including applications for structural heart procedures including transcather aortic valve implantation, mitral and tricuspid valve replacement.
“Our 1st commercial product, TaviGuide, is currently the only CE-marked technology that can predict how an aortic valve implant will interact with the patient-specific anatomy and provide guidance for personalized device size selection and position. This Series B capital will enable us to scale commercial operations, deliver on our pipeline of simulation tools for structural heart and promptly realize the significant opportunity in the growing transcatheter valve market,” FEops co-founder & CEO Matthieu De Beule said in a prepared statement.