High-Tech Gründerfonds and Bayern Kapital invest in technology for stroke prevention

High-Tech Gründerfonds and Bayern Kapital finance Curefab to develop innovative tools to enhance early diagnosis and prevention of stroke.

In Germany alone, every year about 200.000 people are hit by a stroke. The majority of this collective suffers from severe long-term disabilities. Stroke patients occupy up to 25% of hospital long term beds. Alone the direct medical stroke related costs sum up to 7.1 billion Euros each year in Germany.

Early diagnosis in combination with appropriate therapy can reduce stroke related risks and damages significantly.

The solutions developed by Curefab support an early diagnosis by objectively indicating risk factors of a stroke. Precise information about anatomical structures and their condition over a long period of time supplies the medical professional with comparable and this way valuable data. By using the image data of the physicians existing Ultrasound systems, the technology is very economical and safe for the patient. Therefore it is the ideal tool for stroke screening programs.

“Today’s imaging options either expose the patient to irradiation or are complex, time consuming, and expensive. Curefab has found an elegant method which will revolutionize the diagnostic standard in this field.”, says Robert Grueter, serial entrepreneur (BrainLAB, eZono) and Co-Founder of Curefab.

The first prototype was developed for the German Heart Centre Munich in 2008. Supported by leading medical centres like the University Hospital Klinikum rechts der Isar in Munich, Germany the functionality got further enhanced. “The idea to have a cost effective solution combining the advantages of several more complex diagnostic technologies is intriguing”, says Prof. Dr. Hans-Henning Eckstein from the Klinikum rechts der Isar. “We were also convinced by the efficiency of this technology in clinical use”, says Dr. Björn Momsen who as an investmentmanager is in charge of the curefab engagement at High-Tech Gründerfonds. “An innovative technology, which convinced us because it can offer patients many advantages”, supplemented Franz Wocheslander as responsible investment manager at Bayern Kapital.

“After having proven the technical and clinical feasibility of our inventions, we were very thankful for having received the trust and financial support of our financing investors”, says Michael Hohenester, CEO of Curefab. Under the leadership of High-Tech Gründerfonds and Bayern Kapital, several co-investors like First Value AG, Capital Rangers GmbH and optical imaging expert Framos invest in Curefab. Curefab now focuses on optimizing and expanding the clinical capabilities and application range of its product. Furthermore building the network of clinical and distribution partners will be a high priority.

About Curefab
Curefab develops a medical device, which delivers additional clinical data by upgrading conventional ultrasound machines. This way, expensive methods like MRI and invasive methods like CT are substituted.

Contact:
CureFab GmbH
Michael Hohenester (CEO)
Kronstadter Straße 8
81677 Munich
Germany
Tel./Fax:+49 89 80958043
Mobil:+49 151 56679622
hohenester@curefab.com
www.curefab.com

About Bayern Kapital:
Bayern Kapital was set up in 1995 as part of the Bavarian state government’s “Bavarian Future Initiative” aimed at furnishing especially new, innovative Bavarian companies with venture capital. To date, Bayern Kapital has invested about EUR 152 million in more than 185 innovative, high-tech companies. Bayern Kapital is available as a contact for businesses in the region and currently manages an overall fund volume of about EUR 214 million.

Contact:
Bayern Kapital GmbH
Monika Steger/Franz Wocheslander
Ländgasse 135 a
84028 Landshut
Phone: +49 871 923250
Fax: +49 871 9232555
info@bayernkapital.de
www.bayernkapital.de

About High-Tech Gründerfonds
High-Tech Gründerfonds invests venture capital into young, high-potential technology companies that convert promising research results into successful businesses. The seed financing provided aims to enable start-ups to take their R&D propositions to the development of a prototype, proof of concept and possibly market launch. High-Tech Gründerfonds initially invests an amount of EUR 500,000 and can invest up to a combined total of two million Euros per company in subsequent financing rounds. Investors in this public/private partnership are the German Federal Ministry for Business and Technology (BMWi), the KfW Banking Group as well as the six industrial companies BASF, Deutsche Telekom, Siemens, Robert Bosch, Daimler and Carl Zeiss. High-Tech Gründerfonds has approximately 272 million Euro under management.

Contact:
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH
Dr. Björn Momsen
Investment Manager
Ludwig-Erhard-Allee 2
53175 Bonn, Germany
Tel: +49 228 823001-00
Fax: +49 228 823000-50
b.momsen@high-tech-gruenderfonds.de
www.high-tech-gruenderfonds.de