By Business & Finance 
(L-R) John Vaughan, Co-Founder and CTO, AventaMed; Jack Cashman, AventaMed Chairman, lead angel and member of HBAN MedTech Syndicate and Irrus Investments; Olive O’Driscoll, Co-Founder and CEO, AventaMed and Bruce Clibborn, HBAN Boole Investment Syndicate and board member of AventaMed
Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN) today announced a €1.8 million investment in AventaMed, a Cork-based medtech firm.
The company is a spin-out from the Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) and was set up by co-founders Olive O’Driscoll and John Vaughan in 2013.
The investment includes €1.6 million angel funding, the largest single HBAN angel investment to date. The entire amount will fund AventaMed through Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance and commercialisation of the Solo Tympanostomy Tube Device (Solo TTD), which enables the quick and simple insertion of ear grommets.
The insertion of grommets is used to treat recurring ear infections and hearing loss in children and adults.
AventaMed has spent the last four years developing the all-in-one handheld Solo device which simplifies the implantation process, reduces costs and improves patient outcomes. The company needs FDA clearance in order to enter the American market.
In terms of angel and Enterprise Ireland funding, this is AventaMed’s second instalment of an investment injection. 2015 saw the firm raise €1.3 million and received European regulatory approval and completed successful clinical trials to make the device commercial in Europe.
The angel funding is led by Jack Cashman. Cashman has 30 years of experience in healthcare and he previously financed and managed two IPOs in the healthcare industry as Chairman of AventaMed. The returns on investment were 500% and 700%.
The Co-Founder and CEO of AventaMed, Olive O’Driscoll, said: “We are already treating patients in Europe with the Solo device; both parents and surgeons have experienced first-hand the benefits of placing grommets without the need for a full general anaesthetic. We are thrilled to close this investment round as it will enable AventaMed to obtain FDA clearance for the device so that patients in the USA may also benefit from our innovative technology.
“A lot of our investors come from very senior positions in multinational and Irish medical-device and healthcare companies. They are always available to AventaMed to offer expert advice and make critical commercial introductions, which is hugely valuable as we execute our commercialisation strategy in Europe and the USA.”
John Phelan, National Director, HBAN, said: “This is a great milestone both for AventaMed and HBAN. It not only reflects AventaMed’s great success in the four years it has been in operation, but also the changing angel investing landscape.
“We saw a significant increase in angel investment last year – rising more than 25% from €10.8 million in 2015 to €13.6 million. That is because we only introduce angels to high-potential businesses like AventaMed that we have identified as having the ability to scale internationally. That’s a big pull for angel investors and it is why last year one-in-four businesses that pitched to HBAN-registered angels received funding.”
