Increased deal activity and diverse financing options, but lower total capital injection in EU Landscape in Q2
This is the second update paper of 2024, in which we outline the investment landscape and activity in MedTech, Diagnostics, and Digital Health over Q2. As we focus on capital raisings and M&A activity across European companies, we also highlight two interesting deals made over the past three months.
Nearly 25% more deals since last quarter
Since the start of April, 78 deals were made across the European MedTech, Diagnostic, and Digital health space, totalling $849M; a higher total number of deals but significantly less capital compared to Q1 (62 deals, $1.159M). The second quarter saw more types of financing used to fund life science ventures across different maturity stages. Of the investment activities, 59 were capital raisings through venture financing deals, private equity, and equity offerings. 13 deals consisted of M&A, including full, majority, and minority acquisitions, and asset transactions (Table 1).
Europe recorded comparatively less VC investments, both in terms of number of transactions and in total funds raised. This is also reflected by the median VC deal sizes for each of the company development phases in Q2, at $2.9M, $5.11M, $11.99M and $7.80M for Seed, Start-up, Growth and Late-stage companies respectively (Figure 1). In comparison, Q1 demonstrated higher median values of $3.64M, $5.5M, $14.30M, and $28.30M for each development phase.
Conversely, there has been more traction in the European public companies, with a particular increase in equity offerings, ranging from private investments in public equity (PIPE) to secondary offering perspectives. Whereas Q1 saw five equity offerings (100% PIPE), Q2 saw 19 similar transactions, exceeding the first quarter nearly six-fold.
Digital Health innovations continue to secure most deals
closer look at the types of technologies that were able to raise funds in Q2, shows that digital health innovations remain the top-invested sector for 2024 so far (Figure 2). In comparison, there has been an increase in investments in in vitro diagnostics (IVDs), neurology devices, and a general broader range of technologies and applications compared to the first quarter.
Highlights
June 10th, 2024: Amber Therapeutics Secures $100M in Series A Venture Financing
Amber Therapeutics, a UK-based medical technology company developing a breakthrough adaptive neuromodulation therapy to treat mixed urinary incontinence (MUI), has announced the successful closing of its Series A financing raising a total of $100M (£80M) from leading healthcare and technology investors in the US and UK.
The financing is one of the largest Series A rounds ever for a medical technology company in Europe. It was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) as part of a syndicate of new investors F-Prime Capital, Lightstone Ventures, and Intuitive Ventures, alongside existing investors Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE) and 8VC. “Securing this significant financing round from such a blue-chip group of US and UK investors is a huge validation of our therapy value proposition, and the quality of the team we have built,” said Aidan Crawley, CEO of Amber Therapeutics. “Amber can now execute the critical next phase of our strategy to take Amber-UI to US regulatory approval, and fulfil our mission of making this breakthrough therapy available to millions of women suffering from mixed urinary incontinence.
Amber-UI is the first fully implantable adaptive neuromodulation therapy in clinical development for women with MUI, targeting the pudendal nerve through a novel, minimally invasive surgical procedure. Continued financing will be used to fund the development of Amber-UI through pilot and pivotal studies towards regulatory approval in the US. Urinary incontinence (UI) is a debilitating medical condition that affects millions of women globally. Many of them experience symptoms of both urge incontinence (urgent and uncontrollable bladder leaks) and stress incontinence (bladder leaks during physical activity or exertion). Yet, there is no singular therapy available to treat patients with these symptoms.
Amber-UI has the potential to be the first singular neuromodulation therapy for MUI that both directly regulates the urge to void the bladder and augments resistance to urine leakage caused by activities such as coughing or lifting, allowing to restore the normal bladder function. Planning for pilot studies in Europe and a pivotal trial of Amber-UI in the US which are already underway, follow initial discussions with regulators with support of highly promising preliminary results from a first-in-human study (AURA-2) announced in February 2024. This confirms the safety and feasibility of both the surgical procedure and adaptive therapy as well as a strong efficacy signal. Results from the fully enrolled study are expected in the second half of 2024.
May 8th, 2024: Vertigenius Secures $2.26M in Seed Financing
Vertigenius, a pioneering company specialised in the treatment of Vertigo using cutting-edge digital technologies, has announced the successful closure of its seed round investment, raising over EUR2.1M ($2.26M) in funding.
The investment round was significantly oversubscribed, indicating strong market confidence. Atlantic Bridge led the round with several other investors, including Ascentifi and Enterprise Ireland. The significant total investment underscores the confidence that investors have in Vertigenius’ innovative approach to addressing Vertigo, a condition affecting 390 million people annually worldwide. The infusion of capital poises Vertigenius to accelerate the development and deployment of its groundbreaking treatment solutions, with a particular focus on scaling and entry into new markets.
“We are thrilled to announce the successful completion of our seed round financing,” said Mark Barry, CEO of Vertigenius. “This investment is a testament to the transformative potential of our digital technology in revolutionising the treatment of Vertigo. Our mission is to provide higher productivity and easier-to-use solutions for clinicians, which will reduce waiting lists and improve the lives of millions of people. With this funding, we are well-positioned to advance this ambitious mission.” The company plans to leverage the funds to further enhance its technology platform, expand its sales and marketing capability, and establish strategic partnerships to support market penetration and growth.
What does the Venture Finance team at FFUND do?
FFUND’s Venture Finance team helps building and strengthening companies’ propositions to raise capital in an investment round. We do this by offering a number of services: analyzing the companies’ performance through assessment of key indicators, designing the data-room, performing market analyses, company valuations and composing the business plan and teaser deck for investors. On top of that, the team leverages its network of investors to receive feedback on your proposition while serving as a warm introduction.