iHubs Newsletter December 2022
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 Happy Christmas from all the team at ATU iHubs
2022 has been another outstanding year of successes for the ATU iHubs with successful €4.6M DTIF funding of InVera Medical, €3.2M in crowdfunding by Aurigen, our third Seedcorn Winner in ByoWave, multiple awards, accolades and other recognition of our client companies, and continued R&D collaboration between ATU research staff and our companies.
Best wishes and a heartfelt thanks to all our client companies at the ATU iHubs. To transitioned companies, New Frontiers alumni, EMPOWER participants, ATU staff and students, advisory board members and supporters of the iHubs, we hope you have a very happy and peaceful Christmas and we look forward to engaging with you again in the New Year. Here's to 2023! Cheers. George
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ATU iHubs based InVera Medical secures €4.6M in DTIF funding
ATU iHub Galway City client company InVera Medical is one of two medtech projects set to receive Government funding under the fourth round of the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF).
The funding announced on the 16th December 2022 is the second tranche of awards to be distributed in this round.
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar, TD, said that funding would be shared among the partners involved in the three projects.
He added that this would bring the total allocation from this fourth funding call to more than €53m across 14 projects.
The DTIF aims to drive collaboration between Ireland’s researchers and industry, and develop disruptive technologies for eventual commercial application.
InVera Medical is leading research into vessel wall intervention for vein closure in venous leg ulcerations. The project got €4.6m and will see InVera work with University of Galway, Atlantic Technological University and Innovative Catheter Solutions.
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris, TD, welcomed the latest projects to receive DTIF funding, calling them “further evidence of the links between excellent research and our strong industry base”.
“The six enterprise partners and five research institutions involved will work together to convert their industrial research into products that can disrupt existing markets,” he concluded.
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AuriGen Medical Crowdfunds over €3M in three weeks
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tony O'Halloran CTO of AuriGen Medical
AuriGen Medical, an Irish medical devices start-up has raised over €3 million through crowdfunding in just three weeks.
The company, which is based at ATU iHub Galway City has developed a heart implant designed to treat both the stroke and arrhythmia risk associated with atrial fibrillation.
It said the minimally invasive implant aims to revolutionise the management of millions of chronic heart disease patients.
The company launched a crowdfunding campaign with Spark Crowdfunding to help fund the clinical trials of its heart implant.
It raised €1.75 million from institutional investors in Ireland, and sought an additional €750,000 through crowdfunding to facilitate clinical trials starting in 2023.
The Spark Crowdfunding campaign has already raised €2.98 million from 232 investors, above its initial target over a week ago.
AuriGen Medical co-founder and CEO Dr John Thompson said current approaches to treat heart failure and atrial fibrillation - two of the world's most common chronic cardiovascular diseases - require multiple expensive devices and procedures.
To address these challenges, AuriGen Medical said it has created the first device to integrate stroke prevention, heart failure monitoring and arrhythmia management in a single 30 minute day case procedure.
The company said it aims to provide governments and private healthcare insurers with an alternative to what it called the existing "expensive multi-procedure therapies which are currently required to treat challenging heart failure/arrhythmia patients".
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Programme Metrics 2022
Údarás na Gaeltachta jointly with EMPOWER launching a new pilot program CUMASÚ aimed at women entrepreneurs
Údarás na Gaeltachta is providing a new program for women entrepreneurs in the Gaeltacht, jointly with the EMPOWER program, a free support program of the innovation hubs of the Atlantic University of Technology. The new program is aimed at assisting women who are engaged in entrepreneurship and will be specifically aimed at women entrepreneurs in the Gaeltacht areas of Galway and Mayo.
EMPOWER offers two separate programs, TÚS aimed at people who have a business idea they want to explore and FÁS (GROWTH) for entrepreneurs who are already in business and are looking to grow their business and to develop.
EMPOWER has been on the scene since 2017, when it was founded due to the strong demand from newly founded companies led by women in the west. Since then the program has been very popular. 450 applications were received for the final round (320 for the TÚS program, and 130 for the FÁS program, which is suitable for women who already have a business and want to grow or develop that business). 65 women took part in EMPOWER II and as a result, 65 people were employed, the participants managed to attract €10m in funding and 148 new products were launched.
Maria Staunton, EMPOWER 2 Co-ordinator said “The Empower program is very successful and is making a significant contribution to the development of this region. We are now looking forward to implementing CUMASÚ in the Gaeltacht areas of Mayo and Galway. This is a pilot scheme and we hope to see excellent results emerge from it.”
CUMASÚ – TÚS tests ideas for new businesses, to see if they would be accepted in the market. It is aimed at women who have a new business idea and have been in business for less than a year. This free program is offered by experts in early stage businesses, on a part-time basis for 12 weeks. This enables the women who are participating, to pay attention to any family needs and to develop and plan their business at the same time.
“In the past years, a wide range of businesses have been involved in the program and it was wonderful to see these women becoming more confident and achieving their own professional goals. I am very much looking forward to developing the relationship with Údarás na Gaeltachta.”
Seán Ó Coisdealbha, manager of the western region for Údarás na Gaeltachta, said, “EMPOWERMENT for the Gaeltacht is a great opportunity to take advantage of the good practice created by the Atlantic University of Technology to develop women entrepreneurs. We will be taking full advantage of the technology in Gteic to have that expertise on the doorstep, for female participants, throughout the Western Gaeltacht.”
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ATU New Frontiers Galway Mayo Alumni company ByoWave wins annual InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Awards
Eibhlin O'Riordan co-founder of ByoWave
holding Seedcorn overall winner award alongside Margaret Hearty, Chief Executive Officer of InterTradeIreland and Richard Kennedy, Chairman of InterTradeIreland.
Galway-based tech start-up Byowave has been named the overall winner of the prestigious InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition, pocketing a cash prize of €100,000.
Seedcorn is the only competition of its kind on the island of Ireland aimed at improving the investor readiness of innovative new start and early stage businesses. As well as a substantial prize fund of €300,000 for the winners, participants in the competition benefit from business planning workshops, unique networking opportunities and access to angel investors, and mentorship support throughout the competition.
ByoWave makes modular, accessible and customisable video game controllers for people with disabilities. The company has developed a new solution allowing users to build their own controllers based on their own physical needs, and have unrestricted access to the world of video-gaming.
Brandon Blacoe, CEO and co-founder, ByoWave
Seedcorn has been a great journey for us, and we are over the moon to be named overall winners of this year’s competition. The Seedcorn journey has been invaluable for us, and we are grateful to the programme team for all their support and encouragement throughout the process.
Eibhlin O'Riordan, co-founder of ByoWave said:
There are millions of people all over the world with a physical disability that prevents them from using traditional video game controllers. Indeed, accessibility barriers affect 40% of gamers who have a disability. We have been working for the past two and a half years to develop solutions that help people overcome this barrier, and the €100,000 prize fund will go towards our product development as we build more accessible controllers to make gaming open for everyone.
ByoWave was a recent Phase 3 participant of the ATU Galway Mayo New Frontiers Programme and a ATU iHub Galway City client company.
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ATU iHub's Rockfield Medical Devices Receives FDA Clearance for the Mobility+ Enteral Feeding System
Rockfield Medical Devices Limited, a commercial-stage medical device company focused on developing solutions to transform the mobility and quality of life of tube feeders, today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) 510(k) clearance of the Mobility+ Enteral Feeding System.
The Mobility+ Enteral Feeding System is a portable, lightweight, non-electronic, enteral feeding system that delivers liquid nutrition formula to an enteral access device (feeding tube) in users aged 2 years and over, in clinical or home care settings. The System has three primary components: a food pouch, filling set and giving set. The System is for single patient use, intended for use over a 24-hour period.
This FDA clearance, for the first time, allows Rockfield Medical Devices to market the Mobility+ Enteral Feeding System in the United States. This allows the company to deliver on its mission to transform the mobility and quality of life of tube feeders. “We are excited to bring this innovative technology to the United States and believe that it will uniquely and positively transform the quality of day-to-day life of enteral tube feeders” said Tomás Thompson CEO of Rockfield Medical Devices, himself a former tube feeder, whose recognition of the many limitations of current enteral feeding systems on the market, led to the design and development of the Mobility+ Enteral Feeding System.
Limited market release of the Mobility+ Enteral Feeding System in the US will commence in the coming weeks, with a full launch anticipated in Q1 2023.
About Rockfield Medical Devices Limited
Rockfield Medical Devices Limited, a company based in ATU iHub Galway City, Ireland, is a commercial-stage medical device company focused on developing solutions to transform the mobility and quality of life of tube feeders. Rockfield Medical Devices is developing a portfolio of innovative feeding solutions for tube feeders. The company’s first product to market is the Mobility+ Enteral Feeding System, which has been 510(k) – cleared by the FDA for an Indication of Use to deliver liquid nutrition formula, to an enteral access device (feeding tube) in users aged 2 years and over.
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ATU iHub based company Nua Surgical named Ireland’s Best Tech Startup in 2022 at the National Startup Awards
L-R Craig Doyle, Awards Host; Barry McCann & Marie Therese Maher, NUA Surgical, National Startup Awards Grand Prix Winners 2022; Anna Marie Turley, Enterprise Ireland.
NUA Surgical is dedicated to innovating in women's health, the company has developed the SteriCISION C-section Retractor to improve access and visualisation during Caesarean Delivery.
The company was one of sixty eight finalists selected for the awards which were divided into a broad range of categories which celebrate the achievements of startups in Ireland, from hundreds of applications.
Supported by Enterprise Ireland the competition recognises and rewards Irish startups for their success in business across 10 categories.There are three key stages to the competition with qualifying entries first shortlisted by region and then nationally.
The competition, now celebrating its eleventh year, has become a pivotal date in the Irish startup calendar, with the best and brightest startup companies being recognised at a national level. The National Startup Awards recognise the dedication, resilience and perseverance of entrepreneurs that are contributing so much to the nation’s economy.
Congratulations also ATU iHub client company Symphysis Medical who won Silver in the Medtech Startup category and to Emma Mehan of Precision Sports Technology who won the Silver award in the Emerge Tech Startup category. Emma is a New Frontiers Alumni and ATU iHub's client company.
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Bluedrop Medical wins Digital Health Innovation of the Year at the Irish Medtech Awards
Bluedrop Medical based at ATU iHubs Galway City was the recent recipient of Digital Health Innovation of the Year at the Irish Medtech Awards sponsored by the Ibec Irish Medtech Association, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland.
The start-up is developing an advanced system that can identify diabetic foot ulcer signs early, which can help to reduce the number of amputations in Ireland linked with the condition.
Speaking at the ceremony, Ibec director of medtech and engineering Dr Sinead Keogh said the Irish medtech community has “demonstrated its resilience in the past two years” and the organisation was delighted to bring 500 industry leaders together for the awards.
L-R Simon Kiersey, CTO and Chris Murphy CEO of Bluedrop Medical with George McCourt, Head of Innovation and Enterprise at ATU Galway Mayo.
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