Aseptuva is a Swiss-UK MedTech startup developing an optomechanical device intended to prevent hospital-acquired infections, which affect over 4.4M patients in Europe each year and cause about 40,000 deaths. The company focuses on preventing bacterial colonization of catheter surfaces that can lead to lethal bloodstream infections and aims to transform intensive care medicine globally. Aseptuva was selected by the European MedPhab programme and will collaborate with Philips Innovation Services and the Tyndall National Institute to bring its device closer to market readiness. The MedPhab-supported project focuses on photonics-based diagnostic and treatment instrumentation and will help scale the company from product development to a near market-ready device using advanced manufacturing methods, quality assurance, and precision engineering. The project runs until mid-2024 and involves photonics, microbiology, and regenerative tissue engineering, which the team expects will expand its interdisciplinary capabilities. MedPhab support (worth up to EUR 200,000) has also helped convince new investors and existing shareholders to join a recently launched seed round; the company says it is talking with further investors to close the round. Aseptuva is developing a novel disinfection technology that uses non-harmful UVC illumination on skin to prevent infections associated with central venous catheters. The company targets hospital-acquired infections (HAI), citing more than 350,000 such infections annually in the US and Europe, over 40,000 related deaths, and CHF 9 billion in healthcare costs. Aseptuva positions its technology as an additional defense against antimicrobial resistance (AMR), referencing WHO projections about AMR’s future mortality impact. The three co-founders met in 2019, filed initial patents, validated a proof-of-concept, and incorporated first as a GmbH before transforming into an AG. The startup is based at Technopark Winterthur and has received support from medical doctors and entrepreneurial competitions. With the new funding, it plans to accelerate R&D, prototyping and clinical research, grow the team, and set up subsidiaries abroad near research partners.

Total raised

$1M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Nov 2023