Essen — The Grün­der­fonds Ruhr, initia­ted jointly by NRW.BANK and Initia­tiv­kreis Ruhr, has made its first invest­ment. As part of a Series A finan­cing, he has inves­ted around 2.6 million euros in Fascio­tens GmbH toge­ther with the VC inves­tor copa­rion. The Essen-based medi­cal tech­no­logy company has deve­lo­ped an inno­va­tive therapy for open abdomens.

“Fascio­tens is Grün­der­fonds Ruhr’s first invest­ment and a perfect exam­ple of young and inno­va­tive medi­cal tech­no­logy busi­ness ideas that can thrive in the Ruhr region,” says Dr. Aris­to­te­lis Nastos, one of the two mana­ging direc­tors of Grün­der­fonds Ruhr.

Dr. Sebas­tian Pünze­ler, Invest­ment Mana­ger at copa­rion, added: “Fascio­tens was deve­lo­ped by prac­ti­cing surge­ons for surge­ons and will signi­fi­cantly improve medi­cal care for high-risk open abdo­men pati­ents, simul­ta­neously redu­cing the length of stay of pati­ents in the inten­sive care unit.”

The new therapy “Fascio­tens Abdo­men” was deve­lo­ped by the foun­ders and mana­ging direc­tors of Fascio­tens GmbH, the surge­ons Dr. Gereon Lill and Dr. Frank Beyer. They have deve­lo­ped a device that atta­ches extern­ally to the abdo­mi­nal wall and keeps the abdo­mi­nal wall fasciae in a state of tension. Thus, they provide a solu­tion to the surgi­cal problem of abdo­mi­nal closure after an open abdo­men. Pati­ents with life-threa­tening illnesses can thus be trea­ted with good success. In addi­tion to impro­ved pati­ent care, the use of this novel therapy results in a signi­fi­cant reduc­tion in treat­ment costs.
In the future, the proce­dure will also be used in infants with a conge­ni­tal abdo­mi­nal wall defect.

For the two mana­ging direc­tors, the invest­ment is a stroke of luck.
“The parti­ci­pa­tion of Grün­der­fonds Ruhr and copa­rion in the amount of appro­xi­m­ately 2.6 million euros enables us to rapidly advance CE appr­oval and the first clini­cal appli­ca­tion study, and to prepare the market entry of the first product,” says Dr. Frank Beyer. “In addi­tion, funding will also be made available for the deve­lo­p­ment of other products.”

“Toge­ther with the inves­tors, we have estab­lished concrete mile­sto­nes and are bene­fiting from the expe­ri­ence and network of our inves­tors in the still young phase of our company,” adds Dr. Gereon Lill.

The new therapy is also well recei­ved in practice.
Prof. Dr. Kriegl­stein, Chief Physi­cian of the Surgi­cal Clinic at St. Elisa­beth Hospi­tal Colo­gne-Hohen­lind, explains: “The idea origi­na­ted in surgi­cal prac­tice and is convin­cing in its simpli­city. Due to the seve­rity of the dise­ase, the treat­ment form meets an immense medi­cal need.”

Photo (from left): Dr. Sebas­tian Pünze­ler (copa­rion), Dr. Gereon Lill and Dr. Frank Beyer (both Fascio­tens), Dr. Aris­to­te­lis Nastos (Grün­der­fonds Ruhr).
Source: Initia­tiv­kreis Ruhr/reprint free of charge

About the Grün­der­fonds Ruhr
The Grün­der­fonds was initia­ted jointly by Initia­tiv­kreis Ruhr and NRW.BANK and is the first private-sector early-stage fund in the Ruhr region finan­ced by regio­nal indus­trial and finan­cial compa­nies. The fund invests in inno­va­tive and tech­no­logy-orien­ted compa­nies from the life science & health, digi­tal economy, chemi­cals & new mate­ri­als, energy & indus­try, and logi­stics & trade sectors. Prere­qui­si­tes are good growth and exit pros­pects as well as compe­tent manage­ment. As a multi-corpo­rate early-stage fund, it also opens up important indus­try access points for the respec­tive port­fo­lio compa­nies. www.gruenderfonds-ruhr.com

About copa­rion
copa­rion is a venture capi­tal inves­tor for young, German tech­no­logy compa­nies. With a fund volume of 225 million euros, copa­rion is making a signi­fi­cant contri­bu­tion to rapid and sustainable growth. copa­rion supports entre­pre­neu­rial vision with know-how without inter­fe­ring in the opera­tio­nal busi­ness. With many years of expe­ri­ence in venture capi­tal and in buil­ding up compa­nies, the copa­rion team reco­gni­zes poten­tial and opens up new perspec­ti­ves. copa­rion brings the subs­tance, perse­ver­ance and crea­ti­vity to successfully master even diffi­cult situa­tions toge­ther. copa­rion finan­ces exclu­si­vely toge­ther with co-inves­tors. The focus is on the start-up and young growth phase. The fund invests up to €10 million per company, usually in seve­ral finan­cing rounds of €0.5–5 million each. Copa­rion has offices in Colo­gne and Berlin.

About Fascio­tens
Fascio­tens GmbH, based in Essen, Germany, was foun­ded in 2016 by Dr. Gereon Lill and Dr. Frank Beyer. It deve­lops inno­va­tive products for surgery. The foun­ders place parti­cu­lar empha­sis on direct cont­act with users in the clinics, which takes place on an equal footing due to their many years of medi­cal practice.