Eindhoven-based ONWARD Medical, a medtech company specialising in spinal cord stimulation therapies, announced that it has raised €20M in gross proceeds through a dual approach involving both private and public offerings.
The funding, raised via an accelerated bookbuild offering in the form of a private placement with institutional investors, certain founders, and select members of the Board of Directors, amounted to 4,307,641 new ordinary shares.
Additionally, the Dutch company conducted a separate public offering via the PrimaryBid platform in France, targeting retail investors, which resulted in the issuance of 136,803 new ordinary shares.
In total, the company issued 4,444,444 new ordinary shares through these combined efforts.
New Shares were offered at an issue price of €4.50 per share.
The newly issued shares are expected to be listed and traded on the Euronext Brussels and Euronext Amsterdam by March 25, 2024.
Existing stakeholders participated in the deal, with 333,333 shares each allocated to INKEF Capital and EQT Life Sciences.
Following the offerings, these entities will hold 11.5% and 11.2% of the Company’s share capital, respectively.
An aggregate of 246,555 shares was also allocated to the following management, founders, and members of the Board of Directors of the Company:
- Dave Marver, CEO
- Robert Odell, VP Operations
- Lorenzo Fanti, VP Legal
- Co-Founders Jocelyne Bloch and Grégoire Courtine, CSO
- Directors Ian Curtis, Kristina Dziekan, and Fred Colen.
Fund utilisation
ONWARD Medical plans to use the net proceeds from the offerings to:
- Finance research & development activities, including ongoing product development and regulatory approval for innovative systems: the ARC-EX System designed to restore hand and arm function, and the ARC-IM System aimed at enhancing blood pressure regulation post-spinal cord injury (45 per cent).
- Establish a commercial organisation to facilitate the US launch of the ARC-EX System later this year. It includes hiring a field sales organisation, producing training and education materials, attending congresses and events, developing customer support capabilities, and conducting market access and reimbursement activities (15 per cent)
- Improve quality, operations, and other infrastructure capabilities (35 per cent)
- Fund working capital requirements (5 per cent)
“We are delighted to announce the successful capital raise of €20 million, including a fully subscribed upsize option despite challenging market conditions,” says Dave Marver, CEO of ONWARD Medical.
“We thank our new and existing shareholders for their support and confidence in the Company. With these funds, we will work with great intensity to develop and commercialize our breakthrough therapies for people with spinal cord injury,” adds Marver.
ONWARD Medical: Creating therapies to empower people with Spinal cord injuries
ONWARD Medical is a medical technology company developing therapies to restore movement, function, and independence in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) and movement disorders.
ONWARD ARC Therapy is a type of spinal cord stimulation that can be delivered using either an external ARC-EX or an implantable ARC-IM platform.
The therapy is programmed to provide targeted stimulation.
The Company received ten Breakthrough Device Designations from the US Food and Drug Administration for its ARC Therapy platform.
In 2023, positive results were presented from the Company’s Up-LIFT study, which evaluated the ability of transcutaneous ARC Therapy to improve upper extremity strength and function.
It is currently preparing for regulatory approval submissions in the US and Europe.
In parallel, the company is conducting studies with its implantable ARC-IM platform, which demonstrated positive interim clinical outcomes for improved blood pressure regulation, a component of hemodynamic instability, following SCI.
Other ongoing studies include the combination use of ARC-IM with a brain-computer interface (BCI) to address multiple symptoms of SCI.
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