APEX Ventures and Brandenburg Kapital invest in MedTech start-up for contactless measurement of vital data

Hennigsdorf, 26 April 2022: smedo GmbH announces the closing of a seed financing round of €1.66m. The new funds will be used to advance the development and market launch of a medical system for contactless vital data measurement in hospitals and nursing homes.

It uses an innovative system that seamlessly monitors cardiac vital signs such as heartbeat and breathing without body-worn sensors. The seed round is funded by APEX Ventures from Vienna in cooperation with Brandenburg Kapital, a subsidiary of Investitionsbank des Landes Brandenburg.

The technology developed by smedo makes it possible to continuously monitor the vital data of each patient without manual intervention or setting up a system. A diagnostic approach is also being pursued, which in the future should enable early detection of fatal cardiac events such as a heart attack.

"Currently, patients in the intensive care unit are monitored with the help of complex ECG devices. These are costly and personnel-intensive to use and therefore not suitable for a normal ward. With smedo's technology, we are already measuring the vital data of patients in normal wards without the need for additional staff time," said Thomas Grellner, founder and CEO of smedo GmbH. "The early detection and prevention of life-critical events not only in hospitals and nursing homes but also in the field of baby monitoring, for example, represents the greatest motivation for us to bring our technology to exciting markets."

Wolfgang Neubert, General Partner at APEX Ventures, said, "We looked at a number of technologies for clinically deployable, non-contact measurement of vital signs. smedo's high-resolution signal processing technology from radar signals fully reflected from the surface of the skin not only seemed the most promising but is also cost-effectively scalable and thus widely deployable."

Nam Nguyen, Investment Manager at Brandenburg Kapital, added, "In our opinion, smedo offers the best solution to solve one of the biggest problems in the healthcare system and in nursing care through a tool for contact-free vital data measurement in real-time, which will relieve medical staff in their daily work. The unique selling point of smedo here is the ability to precisely record heart sounds, which enables an exact allocation of the measurement signals and thus also a biometric procedure. We are proud to welcome smedo to our portfolio and to tackle further the development together."

About smedo GmbH

smedo GmbH is a research-based company engaged in the development of contactless measurement of vital data and diagnostic approaches for cardiological diseases. smedo is developing a system for contactless monitoring of cardiological vital data for use in hospitals, nursing homes and the home environment. smedo, founded by Thomas Grellner, CEO of smedo GmbH, has been operational since 2021.

For more information go to www.smedo.de

About APEX Ventures

APEX Ventures is a European venture capital investor focusing on deep-tech start-ups with unique IP and exceptional market potential. APEX Ventures has completed numerous investments in Europe, the UK and the US with its APEX Medical fund in areas including digital pathology, radiology, neurology, micro-robotics, genomics and in silico medicine. APEX Ventures is in close collaboration with the founding teams to work together on go-to-market strategies and accelerate international growth. APEX Ventures works closely with academic institutions, entrepreneurship programmes and other international VC partners to effectively select talented teams and provide them with the best possible support. www.apex.ventures

About Brandenburg Kapital GmbH/ ILB

Brandenburg Kapital is a subsidiary of the Investitionsbank des Landes Brandenburg (ILB). Since 1993, as the venture capital arm of the ILB, it has supported Brandenburg companies by acquiring equity and quasi-equity investments. As a public venture capital company, experienced lead investor and active partner, Brandenburg Kapital ensures a strong equity base for start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises in the state of Brandenburg on the basis of a stable group environment. For this purpose, the early-stage and growth fund is currently available in the amount of around 100 million euros. The fund resources for the Brandenburg Kapital fund, which was set up on behalf of the Brandenburg Ministry of Economics, are currently provided from resources of the European Fund for Regional Development and from ILB's own resources. Through ILB's investment activities, 232 companies have so far been supported on their growth course with around 256 million euros. In addition, private investors have so far invested more than 525 million euros in the companies.

Further information at: www.brandenburg-kapital.de