FIRE1 Raises EUR 40 Million in Series C Financing

DUBLIN, Ireland, Jan. 30, 2018 -- Foundry Innovation & Research 1, Ltd. (FIRE1), today announced the close of a Series C financing totaling EUR 40 Million. The financing was led by new investor Gilde Healthcare, with the participation of new investors Gimv and Seventure and all existing investors, including Lightstone Ventures, Medtronic, and New Enterprise Associates. It was also announced that Janke Dittmer, Partner at Gilde Healthcare, and Patrick Van Beneden, Partner at Gimv, have joined FIRE1’s Board of Directors.

The financing provides FIRE1 with capital to further advance its novel remote monitoring solution to improve outcomes for heart failure patients. Nearly six million Americans live with heart failure, a number that is expected to increase to more than eight million by 2030.  Globally, it is estimated that at least 26 million people suffer from heart failure, and the burden is particularly high for older patients. It is the leading cause of hospitalization for people over 65, with annual treatment costs exceeding $31 billion in the U.S. alone.  With an aging population, the impact of heart failure is expected to increase substantially. 

“This infusion of new capital from these premier investors will enable us to accelerate our progress and deliver on our commitment to help patients with heart failure,” said Conor Hanley, FIRE1 CEO and President.  “Heart failure is a life-threatening disease and a significant burden on patients and healthcare systems.  Managing patients at home with novel digital health-enabled solutions will help intercept the trajectory of the disease and reduce the need for hospitalization.”

“Improving outcomes for heart failure patients remains one of the most pressing needs in healthcare,” said Janke Dittmer, Partner at Gilde Healthcare. “We have been impressed by the FIRE1 team, their development progress and the support they’ve garnered from leading clinicians for their comprehensive solution to transform heart failure management.”

About FIRE1
Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, FIRE1 is a connected medical device solutions company dedicated to improving outcomes for people suffering with chronic diseases.  Its first product is a novel remote monitoring solution to improve outcomes for heart failure patients. The FIRE1 team is led by an experienced medical devices team who are working closely with researchers, clinicians, patients and payors to help reduce the burden of heart failure.  For more information, please visit www.fire1foundry.com.

About The Foundry
FIRE1 is the 15th medical device company from The Foundry.  The Foundry was established in 1998 to rapidly turn the best concepts into successful new medical device companies. In addition to inventing new technologies itself, The Foundry works closely with outside clinicians and inventors with promising ideas. Over the past eighteen years, The Foundry’s companies include Ardian (acquired by Medtronic), Cabochon Aesthetics (acquired by Ulthera/Merz), Cierra (acquired by Terumo), Concentric Medical (acquired by Stryker), Cotera, Emphasys Medical (acquired by Pulmonx), Evalve (acquired by Abbott Labs), First to File (acquired by Mark Monitor), Nuvaira, Miramar Labs (acquired by Sientra), Satiety, Twelve (acquired by Medtronic), XTENT, and the ophthalmic company incubator Forsight Labs. The Foundry, LLC is located in Menlo Park, California. For more information, please visit: www.thefoundry.com.

About Gilde Healthcare
Gilde Healthcare is a specialized European healthcare investor managing two business lines: a venture & growth capital fund and a lower mid-market buy-out fund.  Gilde Healthcare's venture & growth capital fund invests in medtech, diagnostics, digital health and therapeutics. The portfolio companies are based in Europe and North America.  Gilde Healthcare's lower mid-market buy-out fund invests in profitable European healthcare services companies with a focus on the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The portfolio consists of healthcare providers, suppliers of medical products and other service providers in the healthcare market.  Since 2001 Gilde Healthcare has raised EUR 800 million (USD 1 billion) for its specialized funds. Gilde is currently investing out of Gilde Healthcare IV which is financed, in part, by the European Recovery Program-European Investment Fund Facility.  For more information, visit the company's website at www.gildehealthcare.com.

About GIMV
Gimv is a European investment company with 37 years’ experience in private equity and venture capital. Listed on Euronext Brussels, Gimv currently manages around 1.6 billion EUR (including co-investment partnerships) of investments in about 50 portfolio companies.

As a recognized market leader in selected investment platforms, Gimv identifies entrepreneurial and innovative companies with high-growth potential and supports them in their transformation into market leaders. Gimv’s four investment platforms are: Connected Consumer, Health & Care, Smart Industries and Sustainable Cities. Each of these platforms works with a skilled and dedicated team across Gimv’s home markets of the Benelux, France and Germany and can count on an extended international network of experts.  More information on Gimv can be found on www.gimv.com.

About Seventure Partners
With over EUR 660m in assets under management as of the end of 2016, Seventure Partners is a leading venture capital firm in Europe. Since 1997, Seventure Partners has invested in innovative businesses with high growth potential in two fields: Digital technologies in France and Germany, and Life sciences across Europe, Israel and North America.

In Life sciences, the four areas of focus include biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, connected health and medtech, industrial biotechnology, and last but not least: the MICROBIOME, nutrition, foodtech and personalized medicine. Investments can range between EUR 500k and EUR10m per round, or up to EUR 20m per company, from early to late stage. Recently, Seventure Partners successfully launched Health for Life CapitalTM which has attracted strategic investments from prestigious organizations including Danone, Tereos, Tornier, Lesaffre, Bel and Novartis, as well as entrepreneurs and financial institutions.  For more details: http://www.seventure.fr/en/ Twitter @SeventureP

About Lightstone Ventures
Lightstone Ventures (LSV) was founded in 2012 by the General Partners of the life science teams at Advanced Technology Ventures (ATV) and Morgenthaler Ventures to invest in early-stage breakthrough medical device and biopharmaceutical companies that have the potential to change medicine. Members of the Lightstone team have been involved in several of the largest, venture-backed life science exits over the last decade. The firm now has offices in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.lightstonevc.com.

About NEA
New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies. With nearly USD17 billion in cumulative committed capital since inception, NEA invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company’s lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm's long track record of successful investing includes more than 200 portfolio company IPOs and more than 320 acquisitions. www.nea.com.

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