Aortyx has been awarded the SME Instrument Phase I grant worth 50.000 €. This instrument is part of the EU's Horizon 2020 program. A total of 291 small and medium-sized enterprises from 24 countries have been selected for funding, out of 2784 total applicants in this last call.

The target of this grant is to explore and assess the technical feasibility and commercial potential of our breakthrough innovation. It will cover the improvement of our business plan, the clinical trial preparation, the finalisation of our manufacturing plan and the upgrade of our stakeholder analysis. If Aortyx continues to succeed in the development of its Business Plan, the company will apply to the Phase II of this program, which can grant up to 2,5 million euros.

The EIT Health Headstart Programme provides funding of up to €50 000 to support early stage companies and SMEs in developing new products and services. Aortyx is one of the start-up companies that has been selected for this program. The selected companies will work on their product launch project with support from the regional managers to access local and EIT Health networks.

This program is a great opportunity to ensure our market study and plan the best strategy that can guarantee the shortest time-to-market of our products. Moreover, the funding is useful to verify the needs and benefits of Aortyx’s products and to increase the attraction of further private investment.

Health Horizons is a high caliber, two-day conference focusing on the future of the healthcare industry. More than 1500 people gathered in the historical city of Cambridge the last 26^th and 27^th of June to discuss the most pertinent challenges to the health ecosystems.

One of the most interesting parts of this conference was the Innovation Forum’s Imagine IF! Final, a startup pitching competition between 12 early-stage health-oriented technological startups competed to win a 10,000€ prize. Aortyx participated after classifying at the regional competition and presented with great impact amongst the public and jury. It was a great opportunity to expose the company to European investors and an excellent platform to catapult Aortyx in the European healthcare ecosystem.

Aortyx participated in the third edition of Medift, a meeting that gathers more than 700 European players in the medical devices and technology field. Aortyx participated in the Startup Slam competition, in which we received powerful feedback from the reputed members of the jury. Aortyx held more than 20 meetings along two consecutive days with investors, CROs and other medtech companies, all of them increasing the chances of the business plan to be successful.

The entire medical technology value chain has been represented at the MedtecLIVE exhibition on 21-23th May 2019, in Nuremberg, Germany. This top-level event attracted about 400 exhibitors from 27 countries, with two packed exhibition halls. Half of the exhibition area at the event has been taken up by companies in the fields of processing, manufacturing and mechanical engineering, while the other half has been split evenly between all other fields, from research to packaging and logistics in the medical technology sector. MedtecLIVE is a leading networking platform for the international medical technology community.

Last week, Aortyx took part in MedtecLIVE as a start-up exhibitor, thanks to EIT Health and EIT Health Alumni Network. Noemí Balà and Júlia López Guimet have introduced Aortyx’s latest developments at the Innovation Market Place section of MedtecLIVE, which was jointly supported by EIT Health and Medical Valley EMN, and VCLS Neighborhood from France. Additionally, Aortyx was selected as finalist in the MedtecLIVE start-up contest, organized by Kurt Höller and Laura Suhlrie both from EIT Health. In the final round, Noemí presented our company’s latest innovation and business model to an expert jury and several investors, apart from a general audience. 

Aortyx found great opportunities for developing business at MedtecLIVE and MedTech Summit Congress & Partnering. It has been an excellent chance to meet potential investors, suppliers and end-users. Being at this event, has also helped us to monitor the market, and be in contact with the current leading companies and institutions, as well as with other medtech start-ups. Moreover, Júlia has been able to attend a half-day workshop on the CE mark certification pathway, only intended for EIT Health alumni, and presented by Célia Cruz (EIT Health Alumni Network), Florian Coppers and Kilian Reuβ (Medical Magnesium) and Paul Malinovski (NAMSA). This workshop has offered Aortyx valuable knowledge and plenty of practical tips drawn from experience.

We thank EIT Health and EIT Health Alumni Network for granting us the exhibition stand at MedtecLIVE and the access to the “CE Mark workshop – Survival in Death Valley”.

Thanks to our convertible loans program, we have raised more than 550.000 € and will close at 600.000 €. Our initial goal was to raise 300,000€, but, thanks to our family and friends and the support by angel funds like Genesis Ventures, Progilva Inversiones or Cirugia Vascular Integral, we will be more independent of larger and more restrictive venture capital. The objective of this round is to fund in vivo experimentation and to secure the industrial property of the company.

Aortyx has recently incorporated one senior and two junior members to the technical staff.

Dr. Júlia López Guimet, is a vascular biologist with vast experience in the biology of Marfan disease and aortic dissection. She is in charge of optimizing the patch surface coating to promote cellular colonization. She will also be responsible of the animal studies.

Mr. Alex Aranda, MSc, is an Industrial Engineer and PhD Candidate with experience in mechanical devices development. He is in charge of the design and scale-up of the endovascular patch deployment system.

Mr. Pau Teixidó, MSc, is a Pharmaceutical Chemist and PhD Candidate with experience in chemical formulation for biological applications. He is in charge of the optimization of the adhesive side of the patch.

The combined expertise of our new hires guarantees the rapid progression of our product development. Check the Team section for more information.

The Barcelona Local Final for the IMAGINE! IF Pitching Competition took place on March 5^th. Aortyx was selected as one of the 15 worldwide finalists in the Health Horizons conference in Cambridge on June 26^th and 27^th. This implies the opportunity to win a non-dilutive cash prize of £ 10.000, access to a crowdfunding campaign, and further mentoring from industry leaders.

Aortyx was invited to share their experience at the Fòrum de Startups Biomèdiques, a meeting organized by the Official Medical Association from Barcelona (COMB) and the Official Engineers Association (EIC). The goal of this forum was to learn about the experience of healthcare and engineering professionals who have founded successful startups of high economic and social value. Aortyx was presented as a model of a successful startup in the medical devices sector, and Noemí Balà participated in a round table moderated by Jordi Naval, director of Biocat, jointly with representatives of the startups Able and Aniling. She introduced Aortyx and then shared her personal story through the entrepreneurial path. Her contribution was very well received by the young professionals in the audience.

The project “Endovascular Repair Patch” was awarded with a 100.000 € PRODUCTE grant by the Generalitat de Catalunya to support the development of the technology on which Aortyx pivots. This grant will fund the salary of one PhD student, part of the legal work and part of the animal work required in our development plan. The project was ranked 4^th amongst more than 150 proposals received. We are very proud of this grant and will use it to bring our product one step closer to the market.