Electronic artificial urinary sphincter (eAUS) maker UroMems announced today that it raised $17.6 million (€16 million) in an equity and debt financing.
Grenoble, France-based UroMems intends to use the proceeds from the funding to support ongoing preclinical studies and the initiation of the first clinical studies of its eAUS device for treating stress urinary incontinence (SUI), according to a news release.
UroMems’ eAUS is an implantable device designed to compensate for sphincter insufficiency in patients with SUI, based on the latest technologies in embedded intelligent systems and software.
Hil-Invent GmbH led the financing round with co-investor Financière Arbevel. Existing investors such as Wellington Partners, Bpifrance, Cita Investissement, Supernova Invest and Btov Partners also participated along with the company’s founders. A syndicate that included Bpifrance, BNP Paribas, Caisse d’Epargne, Crédit Agricole and Banque Populaire provided the debt financing.
“We were able to accomplish a tremendous amount with the proceeds of our Series A, which was completed in 2016,” UroMems co-founder & CEO Hamid Lamraoui said in the release. “That capital enabled us to complete development of the eAUS device and all industrialization processes necessary to pursue clinical development of the technology. This additional capital will allow us to initiate the first phase of our clinical development program.
“We are grateful for the support of Hil-Invent and Financière Arbevel, as well as the continued confidence of our Series A investors.”
In connection with the financing, Hil-Invent president Freidrich Hillebrand and Financière Arbevel private equity portfolio manager Louis Geslin joined the company’s board of directors.
“We were impressed with the quality of the device and its potential to address a major unmet need among both patients and surgeons,” Hillebrand said. “UroMems is managed by a team of highly skilled engineers, medical technology experts and entrepreneurs who brought the device to industrial maturity.
“The fact that the company has its own manufacturing capacity ready to scale is a significant competitive advantage that will be an important element of its go-to-market strategy.”
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