Sava, a medical device company specializing in wearable biosensor technology, announced on Friday that it has raised $8 million in a Seed funding round led by Balderton Capital and Exor Ventures. This funding round brings Sava's total funding to $13 million, which includes contributions from leading VC firms, angel investors, the European Union, and the UK Government (via Innovate UK).

Sava was founded by Renato Circi and Rafael Michali, bioengineers from Imperial College London. The company has developed a microsensing device designed to detect molecules in the interstitial fluid just beneath the skin. This smart, connected wearable patch aims to streamline health data and deliver it directly to users' smartphones.

Renato Circi, co-founder of Sava, stated, “At Sava, we are tackling preventable illness by building a new operating system for health monitoring. Our microsensor will revolutionize healthcare by making world-leading monitoring technology available to all. With this capital, we can accelerate our goal of creating a new paradigm for healthcare – preventative, personalized, and painless.”

Sava's initial focus is on glucose monitoring for people with diabetes, a condition projected to affect approximately 783 million people by 2045. Accurate glucose monitoring is crucial for diabetes management, prompting many health institutions to adopt Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) as a standard of care. The UK’s NHS plans to provide CGMs to all individuals with Type I diabetes by 2025.

Sava recently gained approval from the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to commence clinical trials on patients with diabetes. This approval will help Sava validate its technology on a larger scale, ensuring the device's safety and performance.

Rafael Michali, co-founder of Sava, commented, “Sava’s mission is to transform healthcare from a curative to a preventative system, by empowering people to take control of their health through effortless access to real-time health insights. The current healthcare system cannot meet this demand and Sava will bridge this gap by providing the foundational architecture of a new biosensing ecosystem.”

Sava's microsensor offers pain-free, real-time health insights at a more affordable price. The upcoming clinical study, scheduled to begin with world-leading investigators from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, will further demonstrate the platform’s clinical performance.

Balderton Capital, a multistage venture firm with extensive experience in supporting Europe's best founders, led the funding round. James Wise, Partner at Balderton, said, “This could be the defining product in personal health monitoring in the coming decade and an essential tool for patients and clinicians in diagnosing and treating many chronic diseases as well. Renato and Rafael have a compelling user-centric vision to revolutionize chronic disease management and preventative care, and the credibility and knowledge to execute in this vital area.”

Exor Ventures, the early-stage investment arm of Exor N.V., also participated in the funding round. Noam Ohana and Ileana Pirozzi from Exor Ventures noted, “Sava’s unique approach and novel technology underline its potential to become a foundation of a new healthcare system. It offers a platform that addresses the needs of both patients and healthcare systems and which will allow other companies to build upon.”

With the new funding, Sava aims to expand its team, design its next-generation product line with high-throughput manufacturing capabilities, and demonstrate its platform’s clinical performance. The company’s innovative approach and novel technology have the potential to significantly impact the future of healthcare, focusing on preventative, personalized, and accessible health monitoring.