On a mission to help push digital transformation in healthcare, xWave Technologies has been backed by Enterprise Ireland and private investors.
Irish health-tech start-up xWave Technologies announced today (6 September) that it has raised €1.3m in a seed funding round.
Headquartered at NovaUCD, xWave has developed a clinical platform to support medical professionals when selecting tests for patients.
xRefer, as the platform is known, is a referral tool for radiologists. Launched last year, xWave developed it in partnership with the European Society of Radiology.
The oversubscribed funding round was led by several private investors and included €250,000 from Enterprise Ireland.
xWave Technologies has previously raised €600,000 in pre-seed funding, primarily from medical and business professionals.
“The data that we have already seen from the use of xRefer in the Irish healthcare system indicates we can potentially eliminate radiology waiting lists in Ireland and abroad by removing unnecessary tests and ensuring that patients get the best test first,” said xWave CEO Mitchell O’Gorman.
Medical diagnostics such as radiology and pathology are vital for early identification of diseases and to help doctors decide appropriate treatment options.
However, a publication review from the US Food and Drug Administration suggests that up to 50pc of high-tech imaging procedures such as CT scans may be unnecessary, as they fail to provide information that improves patient welfare.
xWave Technologies has partnerships with two of the world’s largest radiology societies, the European Society of Radiology and the Royal College of Radiologists in the UK.
“This funding will enable xWave capitalise on commercial opportunities that we now have in the Irish, UK, and northern European markets,” O’Gorman added.
An Enterprise Ireland high-potential start-up, xWave recently announced a partnership with CeADAR, Ireland’s centre for applied AI research, to improve patient testing using AI.
Last year, O’Gorman told SiliconRepublic.com in a Start-up of the Week interview how the Covid-19 pandemic gave the healthcare sector a much-needed push in the direction of digital transformation.
“Covid-19 has been a huge challenge for the Irish health sector, but it has also accelerated the adoption of innovative solutions from Irish start-ups, supported by the likes of Health Innovation Hub Ireland and the HSE digital transformation team. We’re lucky to be part of that.”
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