Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN), a joint initiative of Enterprise Ireland and InterTradeIreland, has announced a €1.8 million investment in Cork-based medtech company, AventaMed. The investment includes €1.6 million in angel funding, the largest single HBAN angel investment to date.
AventaMed, a spin out company from Cork Institute of Technology, was set up by co-founders Olive O’Driscoll and John Vaughan in 2013 to find a method of inserting ear tubes, or grommets, in children without requiring general anaesthetic. The insertion of grommets is used to treat recurring ear infections and hearing loss in children and adults. It is one of the most common surgeries carried out on children worldwide.
This is the second round of angel and Enterprise Ireland funding that AventaMed has received. In 2015, it raised €1.3 million and successfully completed clinical trials and obtained European regulatory approval, the CE mark, to commercialise the device in Europe. AventaMed is now looking to enter the US market, for which it will require FDA clearance.
John Phelan, National Director, HBAN, commented: “This is a great milestone both for AventaMed and HBAN. It not only reflects AventaMed’s great success in the four years it has been in operation, but also the changing angel investing landscape.
“We saw a significant increase in angel investment last year – rising more than 25 per cent, from €10.8 million in 2015 to €13.6 million. That is because we only introduce angels to high-potential businesses like AventaMed that we have identified as having the ability to scale internationally. That’s a big pull for angel investors and it is why last year, one-in-four businesses that pitched to HBAN-registered angels received funding.”
Pictured announcing HBAN-backed funding in AventaMed: John Vaughan, co-founder & CTO, AventaMed, Jack Cashman, AventaMed chairman, lead angel and member of HBAN MedTech Syndicate & Irrus Investments, Bruce Clibborn, HBAN Boole Investment Syndicate and Board member of AventaMed and Olive O’Driscoll, co-founder & CEO, AventaMed.
Photo credit: Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision.
