News12.04.2023
Virtonomy secures €3.5m funding to scale digital patient twins in medical device development
Virtonomy's virtual patients pave the way for better healthcare outcomes
Munich-based startup Virtonomy has successfully raised €3.5 million in additional funding, which will help the company continue its innovative work in digital patient twins and virtual patient simulations for medical devices. Dieter von Holtzbrinck Ventures (DvH Ventures) was the lead investor in the seed round in early 2021 and is now co-leading the pre-Series A round.
Virtonomy's digital patient twin platform enables medical device developers to more efficiently design, develop and gain regulatory approval for their products in a virtual environment, ultimately leading to improved healthcare outcomes for patients around the world. The technology has been in development since December 2019 under the leadership of the company's founders, Dr. Simon Sonntag and Wen-Yang Chu, and their team.
The latest funding round was joined by a number of international investors, including Dieter von Holtzbrinck Ventures (DvH Ventures), Bayern Kapital and Industrial Innovators, who had previously invested in the company. The round also attracted new investors including Accenture, Honeystone Ventures, N&V Capital, Pace Ventures and Springboard Health Angels.
"We are delighted to have secured this investment to further advance our work in developing digital patient twin technology. We believe our platform will revolutionise the medical device industry, making it more efficient and effective than ever before. This new investment will allow us to continue our work and expand our reach globally,” Dr. Simon Sonntag, co-founder and CEO of Virtonomy, commenting on the successful investment round.
"The funds raised will be used to expand the company's capabilities and applications of its technology on a global scale. The investment will enable Virtonomy to accelerate its mission to transform the medical device industry through digital patient twin technology," said Fabian von Trotha, Managing Partner at DvH Ventures, who co-led the investment round.
Virtonomy's v-Patients platform has already received significant recognition and attention in the healthcare industry. The company's technology has been used in pre-clinical studies, allowing researchers to simulate the behaviour of medical devices in the human body before starting clinical trials, but also to generate digital evidence to replace clinical trials. Virtonomy has worked with leading medical device companies, from implantable cardiovascular devices to wearable sensors, helping them to streamline their product development process and bring innovative new products to market faster. The company has also been recognised for its innovative technology, winning several awards and accolades.
Regulatory approval is a critical and demanding part of bringing medical devices to market, and Virtonomy is committed to working closely with regulators to further advance the adoption of virtual clinical trials. Regulators around the world have recognised the potential of in silico testing to not only prevent post-market failures, but also to reduce health inequalities in the current development process. By providing a more efficient and cost-effective way to test medical devices, Virtonomy's platform has the potential to revolutionise the regulatory process.
The successful fundraising round is an important milestone for Virtonomy as it sets the stage for the company to continue its groundbreaking work in digital patient twins and virtual patient simulations. With this new funding, Virtonomy is well positioned to make a significant impact on the healthcare industry and help bring innovative medical devices to market faster and more efficiently than ever before.
ABOUT
Virtonomy GmbH was founded in late 2019 by Dr. Simon Sonntag (CEO) and Wen-Yang Chu (CTO) in Munich, Germany, and develops a cloud-based solution, enabling the continued digitalization of the design and execution phases of clinical studies for medical devices using virtual patients based on a large amount of imaging, physiological and pathological data. The overarching goal is to use data-based virtual patients to end the need for animal and human testing during clinical studies. Virtonomy currently employs a staff of 15+ and combines expertise from the fields of medical technology, medical image processing, artificial intelligence as well as numerical simulation and visualization using extended reality.
Dieter von Holtzbrinck Ventures (DvH Ventures) is one of Europe's leading early-stage venture capital investors. As an independent venture capitalist, DvH Ventures invests in young technology companies, building successful investment clusters in various sectors such as digital health, education, industrial tech and neo-ecology (ESG). The latest fund generation focuses on software and technology startups in the digital health sector. Managing Partners are Fabian von Trotha and Peter Richarz. DvH Ventures is headquartered in Cologne, Germany.