Occuity have successfully raised over £2.85m from more than 850 investors from over 38 countries, on the leading crowdfunding platform, Seedrs. The campaign not only means we were able to give everyone the opportunity to become full equity shareholders in our business, but it also means each investor is directly helping us bring our range of highly disruptive products to market sooner.
The overwhelming success of this investment round has put us in a position to accelerate the development of our revolutionary, non-contacting, optical technology into a range of new medical devices used for ophthalmic examinations, diabetes management and pre-diabetes screening. The goal is for these devices to help screen and monitor common diseases that affect a billion people worldwide.
Largest MedTech campaign on Seedrs with £2.85m raised from over 850 investors in 38 countries
Initial £1.8 crowdfunding target raised within 24 hours of launch
Investment will be used to launch world’s first handheld, optical, non-contacting pachymeter – the PM1 in 2022 – generating income to support the development of further screening and monitoring devices including the Occuity Indigo – a non-invasive glucose monitor - by the end of 2025
Occuity CEO and Co-founder Dr. Dan Daly said,
“We’re delighted to have become the largest MedTech raise on Seedrs because it demonstrates that our vision has resonated both with experienced investors and many of the people who are directly or indirectly affected by these diseases.”
Dan continued, “We were thrilled to surpass our original funding target of £1.8m in just 24 hours and plan to use the additional funds raised to help us with the further research, design, and production of our optical technology. Overfunding also means that we can now grow our team and invest in international marketing opportunities sooner.”
Founded in 2019 by Dr. Dan Daly and Dr Robin Taylor, Occuity’s vision is to use the eye as a window into the health of the body with the company developing a patented optical technology which can obtain precise measurements from the eye via a simple scan. This not only enables structures of the eye to be analysed, but also enable markers left by chronic diseases to be identified and monitored.
The first device in our ophthalmic series, the PM1, will be the world’s first handheld optical pachymeter. The PM1 will deliver several key advantages over existing measurement methods, improving the experience for patients and making it easier and more time and cost-effective for practitioners.
On the development of the company’s first device, CTO and Co-founder Dr. Robin Taylor, commented, “The launch of the PM1 will be an exciting milestone for the business and we’re confident it will be well received. Alongside the PM1, our technology will be used to deliver a pipeline of ophthalmic devices which it is planned will include, axial length measurement, pupillometry, keratometry and more. Our ambition is for Occuity to become an established, valuable and trusted healthcare brand within ophthalmology which will support our work on future consumer facing products.”
Alongside its ophthalmic products, Occuity intend to use its technology to develop a range of screening and monitoring devices for conditions such as diabetes and in the longer term, the early detection of Alzheimer’s, both of which are growing global problems.
Currently, there is no national screening campaign for diabetes. We believe our technology has the potential to make it easier, faster and more cost effective for health services to screen for the disease which could help improve the clinical outcomes for hundreds of millions of people across the globe.
Daniele De Iuliis, who joined Occuity as Design Director, having spent 27 years as part of Apple’s Industrial Design Group, comments:
“For too long now, the way in which we discover and monitor chronic diseases like diabetes has been routed in repetitive finger stick blood testing with all the pain and discomfort and inconvenience that brings. In contrast, the Occuity Indigo will be a discrete handheld product that will simply scan the eye to take a glucose measurement providing a pain-free 21st century solution that is long overdue.”
Dr Daly concluded: “All in all, it’s been a great funding round, which will allow us to continue the research and development of our technology and products. We just want to say a big thank you to not just those that invested but also to everyone else in our community and those who have been following our journey. Whether that’s been through a simple like or share of one of our social posts, simply reading up on our blog, or talking about the work we're doing and the products we're developing with their friends.”
If you want to find out more about the PM1 pachymeter click here, alternatively, if you are an ophthalmic business owner, ophthalmologist, optometrist or optician you may be interested in becoming a preferred partner and shareholder in Occuity.
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