They come from Tyrol and they have developed a product that enables cardiologists to treat cardiac disturbances more quickly and more easily. Moreover, they have already introduced it to medical facilities in their home province and in Upper Austria, but now they are looking to expand on a European level. They are AFreeze.
The medical engineering startup has created a novel cardiac catheter that has managed to make it easier for specialists to treat heart disturbances – and also less stressful and more efficient for patients. The concept and prototype of the catheter resulted from the collaboration of Tyrol’s Health and Life Sciences University (UMIT), and the cardiology department of the Medical University of Innsbruck (MUI). (For more information on the product, see our previous coverage here). Reportedly, the catheter was already successfully tested on patients in Innsbruck and Linz late last year.
As has AFreeze CEO Dr. Gertraud Unterrainer announced at a press conference on 8 March, further clinical studies will now follow in order to introduce the catheter on a European-wide scale. Since the startup will be entering competition with international corporations it is now looking for investors to introduce their product to the market.
Since its foundation in 2005, AFreeze has received financial backing by the Austria Wirtschaftsservice AWS as well as the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and private investors. “Being Austria’s public funding bank, AWS’s main concern is to strengthen the image of the country as a high-tech location through affirmative action and funding,” AWS CEO Bernhard Sagmeister said. “AWS has been supporting AFreeze as part of a seed financing programme since 2008, and we are looking forward to the future successes in the field of life sciences.”
AFreeze has also been supported by the Center for Academic Spin-Offs Tyrol (CAST).
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