University of Galway spin-out Luminate has raised a further $2.5 million (€2.37 million) as part of its latest funding round, bringing the total raised to $17.5 million.
The company, which makes products to control the side effects of treatment for cancer, also announced it had appointed former Dexcom chief operating officer Steve Pacelli as chairman of its board, adding valuable expertise to the company.
The funding round was led by Atlantic Bridge, with other investors - including Mr Pacelli and Finn Murphy - participating alongside existing investors Faber. To date, Luminate has raised around $22 million in funding from private investors, with backers including Elkstone, Y Combinator, Artis Ventures, Metaplanet, Lachy Groom, 8VC, Atlantic Bridge, SciFounders, Faber, Gaingels, Pareto and Lynett Capital.
“We are delighted to lead the additional Luminate Medical financing round and to support another disruptive Irish health tech company. Atlantic Bridge is the most active institutional healthcare investor in Ireland and Luminate is our 17th healthcare portfolio company addressing global patient’s needs,” said Dominik Leisi, investment manager at Atlantic Bridge. “Over 10 million patients undergo chemotherapy every year and up to 70 per cent suffer from significant side effects that negatively impact the treatment outcomes.”
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The latest announcement came as the company began clinical trials in the US of its Lily hair-loss prevention device. Luminate will use the money to drive the clinical trials of Lily and its prototype product Lilac, which is designed to prevent peripheral nerve damage in the hands and feet of cancer patients.
Luminate is also designing a new product, Lotus, that could give low-risk anti-cancer drugs to patients at home, allowing them to be treated outside of a hospital setting. That would alleviate pressure on already stretched resources, and cut costs for healthcare providers and insurance companies. Luminate wants to carry out a proof of concept of study in the US with home infusions of chemotherapy drugs, to show that it is possible.
“We’re particularly excited about making those first steps into the US market. We want to create technologies that make cancer care better, faster and safer for patients,” chief executive Aaron Hannon said. “We see ourselves as taking the cancer market more and more outside of the clinic and into the patient’s home, allowing patients to spend time with the people that matter to them, and allowing them to spend time outside the clinic.”
That aligns with Dexcom’s path to manage diabetes outside a clinical setting. Mr Pacelli is the managing director of Dexcom Ventures, and in his previous COO role had helped guide the company from start-up to a multi-billion dollar business.
“I am excited to join the board of Luminate as chairperson. Cancer is a difficult and painful journey for patients. Luminate’s technology represents an exciting new hope for reducing the burden of side effects on patients, and could enable a future where patients can get treated at home, instead of in the clinic,” said Mr Pacelli.
Mr Hannon said the appointment was a “serious statement of intent”, with the company focused on growing a global medtech business from Ireland. “We are looking to build the dominant oncology device company from Ireland. We are looking to build the next Dexcom.”
Founded in 2018 by Aaron Hannon, Dr Barbara Oliveira and Professor Martin O’Halloran, Luminate is headquartered in Ballybrit, Co Galway, and employs more than 35 people in the US, Ireland, Georgia and Uzbekistan. It has plans to keep growing, and is currently recruiting for roles in software development, research and development, quality and project management at its Galway office.
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