Kuopio-based Marginum bags €2.5M to expand its fluorescence-based tumour detection tech

The Kuopio-based medtech company raised €2.5M funding to bring a breakthrough therapy closer to patients suffering from brain tumours. 

Kuopio, Finland-based Marginum, a medtech startup developing fluorescence-based tissue detection systems, has secured €2.5M in pre-series A funding.

The funding round was led by Nostetta Ventures, with continued support from existing investors Redstone and Almaral.

Based out of Kuopio, Nostetta Ventures is a regional venture capital company investing in early-stage growth companies. The team consists of investors with expertise in business and technology and a hands-on attitude in developing the portfolio companies.

“Marginum is pioneering a technology that could reshape cancer surgery worldwide. We’re investing not only in a device, but in a new way of helping surgeons make better decisions through real-time data. We believe it has the potential to improve how cancer is treated, and we’re proud to support a team with such a meaningful mission”, says Noora Tuikka, CEO at Nostetta Ventures.

New participants, including Lynx Financial, a healthcare-focused fund, and a group of private investors with medical backgrounds, also participated in the round.

Additionally, Business Finland provided important support on the round.

Fund utilisation

The Finnish company will use the funds to seek FDA clearance for the HIVEN aspirate tissue monitoring device and rapidly expand into new European markets.

The capital will also support strategic hiring, international expansion and continued investment in research and development.

“This funding is a critical step toward bringing HIVEN® to surgeons and patients across Europe and the United States. It enables us to pursue FDA clearance and expand our reach to new areas where precise cancer surgery tools are urgently needed. We are responding to an unmet clinical need and aim to make aspirate tissue monitoring a global standard in oncological surgery”, says Marginum CEO Samu Lehtonen MD.

Marginum: Developing fluorescence-based tissue detection systems

Led by Samu Lehtonen, Marginum is developing fluorescence-based tissue detection systems.

The company’s HIVEN device assists surgeons in detecting fluorescent tumour cells during surgery.

The device is attached to a surgical suction tube and provides near-instant auditory feedback when tumour cells are found in the removed tissue.

A special fluorescent dye is used to highlight the cancerous cells.

Unlike traditional methods, HIVEN enables the detection of fluorescence while standard surgical theatre lighting is used, which aims to help surgeons to remove tumours more completely and safely.

Utilisation beyond brain tumours

According to the company’s claims, the system has already been tested in clinical use at Oslo, Tampere and Kuopio University Hospitals and has shown promising results.

The tissue recognition method is based on the findings of the University of Eastern Finland’s research group led by docent Antti-Pekka Elomaa, a consultant neurosurgeon.

Moreover, the Finnish company estimates that the method could be used in the future not only for brain tumours, but also for ovarian, bladder and liver cancer.

The company expects the HIVEN device to receive EU marketing authorisation in the fall of 2025.

HIVEN device sales will be launched in the Nordic countries with a distribution partner to achieve million-euro sales in the coming years.