Indy startup raises $2.3M to develop epilepsy-monitoring device
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If the toughest part of starting a new company is raising money, then Jay Shah and Vivek Ganesh have won plenty of believers with their new wearable epilepsy-monitoring device.
Their company, Indianapolis-based Neurava Inc., raised $2.26 million in an oversubscribed Series Seed fund this month.
Shah and Ganesh are developing a device aimed at mitigating the risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, a mysterious condition that takes an estimated 3,000 lives a year in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.
“It’s an unmet need in the epilepsy space,” Shah told IBJ. “These patients are healthy but just unfortunately die.”
The device monitors patients and alerts doctors for seizures, cardiorespiratory dysfunctions and the impending risk of sudden unexpected death, which typically occurs during or immediately after a seizure and may result from breathing activity and abnormal heart rhythm, the company said.
The company is currently enrolling participants in a pivotal full system usability study in adults and children. A usability study consists of putting the devices on actual epilepsy patients, collecting data and verifying that everything works.
The company already has completed a study on 30 adults. The device will need approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a medical device.
Shah and Ganesh started their company about four years ago when they were doctoral students at Purdue University. Both have since earned doctoral degrees in electrical and computer engineering.
One of the areas of research in their lab was epilepsy, where researchers discovered a potential mechanism of action behind the sudden deaths.
Neurava bult a system that consists of three things: an arm wearable, a neck wearable and a custom smartphone app that communicates with both of the wearables. The company’s algorithm sits in the smartphone app, and the data is uploaded to a secure cloud where physicians and patients would be able to access and review the data.
Neurava is based in the 16 Tech innovation district. The company has two full-time employees, the two co-founders.
The funding round was led by Life Sciences Angels and included a second investment from UCB, an addition support from Purdue Innovates, Elevate Ventures, Rivermount Ventures and First Leaf Capital.
“This will help us meet more milestones, do a full-system study with our wearables,” Shah said.
The company was a finalist and a top 5 startup at the 2023 MedTech Innovator Global Competition out of a group of 61 startups. It won the 2022 Innovation of the Year award at TechPoints 23rd annual Mira Awards.