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Cottonwood Technology Fund invests in Dutch medical chip firm Sencure

Cottonwood Technology Fund has made a EUR1 million investment in Dutch medical chip company firm Secure. The deal marks the fourth impact investment made by Cottonwood Technology Fund III, which is still in fundraising mode after reaching 60 per cent of its EUR75 million target size. 

Sencure will develop an ultra-low power biometric sensing chip offering wearable biometric solutions across a wide range of applications for medical technology companies. The comprehensive uses of the technology include easier (remote) patient monitoring and diagnostics for cardiac cases, COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), children’s asthma, neurological cases and Electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings, as well as enabling ICU grade ventilation and monitoring of vital signs. It can be used across multiple products, for monitoring COVID-19 symptoms, enabling better training or rehabilitation for athletes and more generally to monitor stress and activity levels in people’s daily lives.

Sencure’s biometric sensing chip is the result of five years’ effort in designing electronic systems and signal processing algorithms for electrophysiological diagnostic and monitoring systems to deliver medical-grade accuracy. It is set to significantly outperform medical chips from current manufacturers in terms of both price and quality. Competitive advantages include a much lower power consumption and smaller size, allowing for wide-scale market adoption. 

Cottonwood Technology Fund’s financing, together with EUR500,000 from co-investor Lumana Invest, will be used for filing patent applications to protect Sencure’s unique IP, as well as for development and the global rollout of Sencure’s products. This investment allows Cottonwood to support the remote patient monitoring market and reduce healthcare costs on a global scale.

The global medical wearables market alone is projected to reach USD19.5 billion by 2025 from USD7.4 billion in 2020. This growth is the result of a greater uptake of mobile technologies among both patients and healthcare professionals, an increasing penetration of 4G/5G networks, a larger number of connected devices for chronic disease management, and the growing demand for home care services.

Jurryt Vellinga, CEO and Cofounder, Sencure, says: “In our search to find an investor that provided both seed funding expertise and a worldwide network of potentials partners and customers, we found Cottonwood right in our backyard. They are the perfect fit for Sencure with their direct way of communicating, and straightforward and reliable people. Together, we make a great team, bringing technology to the market that will change the lives of millions of patients worldwide.”

Alain le Loux, General Partner, Cottonwood Technology Fund, says: “Cottonwood has known and worked with Sencure’s team members for several years now, and strongly believes in their ability to further develop the company. We contacted all potential customers for Sencure, and were surprised to learn Sencure’s biometric sensing chip is the first in the market to be recognised by customers as ‘best-in-class technology’.”
 

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