Improving breast cancer care: UK-based medtech startup Endomag secures €16.73M in series D funding

Almost every sector has been enriched with the use of modern technology, and healthcare is no different. There are numerous medtech or health tech startups that have come up with innovative new solutions to health problems. The UK-based startup Endomag is no different. The startup offers multiple technologies to help women with breast cancer avoid surgery when it isn’t needed, and experience better outcomes when it is. It has now raised €16.73M in its latest series D funding round. 

Scaling up with fresh funds

The latest funding round for Endomag was led by Draper Esprit, and it was supported by the company’s existing investors like Sussex Place Ventures, among others. Draper Espirit investment follows on its previous funding investment in Endomag’s 2018 Series C round and counting that in, Endomags’ total funding amounts to over €35.7M. 

With fresh funds, the startup is looking forward to expanding access to its new techniques that are enabled by its products. The funds will also be used to scale its product offering, market reach, and onboard new employees.

Endomag will also be investing ‘significantly’ in research and development. Next year, the company is due to launch the next generation of its Sentimag platform, which offers wire-free and radiation-free breast cancer localisation. Additionally, it will launch new Magseed products in the market. The startup aims to expand beyond its current reach of 43 countries.

Endomag’s non-invasive magnetic sensing technology

Initially founded as Endomagnetics in 2007, out of research conducted at the University College London (UCL) and the University of Houston, Endomag uses magnetics to eliminate the need for radioactivity when staging breast cancer. 

Unlike traditional methods, the startup claims its technology offers non-invasive magnetic sensing for locating and staging breast cancer. The company says it has helped over 130,000 women worldwide receive more precise and less invasive cancer treatment. 

The startups’ core offering is the Sentimag localisation system, which leverages a probe. Surgeons use the probe like a metal detector during surgery to accurately locate a breast tumour with Endomag’s magnetic seed (Magseed). It can also help determine if cancer has spread using Magtrace, a liquid tracer.

The new technologies offered by Endomag have apparently enabled surgeons to develop new techniques that benefit breast cancer patients. As per the company, In the past few years, surgeons “pioneered the targeted axillary dissection (TAD)2 procedure using Magseed, and more recently pioneered delayed sentinel lymph node biopsies (dSLNB).” These treatments are said to enable probable minimisation invasiveness of a surgery for patients while maintaining clinical outcomes. The dSLNB technique is said to be made possible only via Magtrace. 

Endomag has also been a notable contributor during the COVID-19. It is helping the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) maintain breast cancer staging treatments during the pandemic. The company also pledged over €167,000 of its Magtrace lymphatic tracer and helped raise about €28,000, which will be contributed for research into preventing breast cancer. This was done via the ‘MagTeam100 Challenge’, which had participants run, walk or cycle 100 miles during October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Image credits: Endomag