Holland Venture invests in LivAssured to support further development of the NightWatch

A groundbreaking detection system for nocturnal epileptic attacks

 

 Amsterdam, 20 September 2018 – Investment company Holland Venture invests with Oost NL and Health Innovations Fund in LivAssured, which developed the revolutionary NightWatch in collaboration with neurologists and patient associations. The NightWatch supports  the care task of parents and healthcare professionals by giving off a warning in the event of a heavy night-time epileptic seizure. Because of the NightWatch, help can be provided quickly and adequately, reducing the risk of medical complications. The investment enables further development and the international roll-out of the NightWatch. With the investment in LivAssured, Holland Venture officially launched the Holland Venture Healthcare Innovation Fund II.

 

 

Annually, about 100,000 Dutch people must deal with epilepsy. A severe attack requires medical attention in approx. 30% of cases. Most of these attacks occur at night and often go by  unnoticed, leading to serious medical complications. Because of this parents often experience night-time stress. Research among the parents of the patients of epilepsy clinic Kempenhaeghe shows that about 60% of the parents are actively looking for a solution. Healthcare professionals also benefit from an adequate detection system to improve the quality of care and to ease the care task.

 

Conceived by neurologists, advised by epilepsy associations.

To solve this problem LivAssured, founded in 2013, developed the NightWatch in cooperation with institutions Kempenhaeghe, Sein, UMC Utrecht, and the Epilepsy Fund. The detection system consists of a bracelet that the patient wears around his upper arm at night. It uses a unique combination of heart rate and motion analysis, where the device recognizes movement patterns and changes in heart rate with a high degree of accuracy. A smart algorithm assesses whether these signals indicate an epileptic seizure. In the case of an epileptic seizure, the NightWatch sends an alarm to the healthcare professional or parent. This could prevent that an epileptic lead to more damage, hospitalization or even death.

Healthcare return

According to a longitudinal study at epilepsy institutes Sein and Kempenhaeghe, the NightWatch detects 9 out of 10 clinical urgent attacks and alerts emergency workers in time. That is more than a huge improvement compared to alternative products that are currently on the market. The results of this study will be published shortly. The NightWatch is currently being used to great satisfaction by a growing group of Dutch families and in care institutions.

 

Jan-Frens van Giessel, Investment Director by Holland Venture. ‘The safety for patients isn’t the only thing which increases due to the NightWatch, it also relieves the care task of parents and healthcare professionals. It realizes a huge impact in the care of a very vulnerable group of patients and their attendants. This explains why the investment in LivAssured fits perfectly within our investment focus, where we aim to reduce healthcare costs while increasing the quality of care. We foresee enormous (international) growth opportunities for the company and are proud to be able to contribute to its development.’

 

 

Jeroen van den Hout, CEO LivAssured, add to this: ‘We can set the next steps with the knowledge and capital of Holland Venture. With this investor, LivAssured gets a strong partner with experience in the healthcare sector and enable us to further develop the NightWatch and achieve our international growth ambitions.’

LivAssured is the first investment of the Healthcare Innovation Fund II (HVZI II) of Holland Venture.
With her recently started second Healthcare Innovation Fund, Holland Venture provides growth capital to promising Dutch entrepreneurs in the healthcare market. The fund, with a size of 14 million euros, has set itself the goal of building a portfolio of around 10 investments within the segment’s devices, diagnostics, and digital health.

 

About Holland Venture
Over the past 35 years, Holland Venture has invested in more than 130 Dutch SMEs in a responsible and successful manner. With a clear investment strategy, Holland Venture is active in the growth markets of both healthcare and technology. The experienced and involved investment team knows what entrepreneurship is like. With the joint goal of achieving growth, Holland Venture strives for an open, sustainable and professional relationship with the management teams of the companies in which she invests. Holland Venture is supported by a broad network of successful healthcare and technology entrepreneurs.