Health Tech Startup Mika Secures €1 Million Seed Funding to Enhance Cancer Patients' Lives Through Digital Innovation

On August 16, 2019, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned from foreign media reports that health tech startup Mika announced the completion of a €1 million seed funding round. The proceeds from this round will be used to advance the clinical application of “Mein interaktiver Krebs-Assistant” (My Interactive Cancer Assistant) and further develop the app. The application leverages artificial intelligence to improve the lives of cancer patients in a more personalized manner.

This round of financing was co-led by the venture capital firm Ananda Impact Ventures and VC Fonds Technologie Berlin GmbH, a venture capital company managed by IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft.

Mika, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Berlin, Germany, is a health tech startup. The company aims to support cancer patients through the challenging period of disease treatment, leveraging digital technologies to continuously improve their quality of life and treatment outcomes.

Cancer is not merely a disease we hear about on television or read about online. Rather, it remains one of the greatest challenges facing medicine and society worldwide, impacting millions of lives each year. According to World Health Organization statistics, 18.1 million people were diagnosed with cancer in 2018. In Germany alone, one person develops cancer every second.

Globally, the number of people alive within five years after a cancer diagnosis (referred to as the five-year prevalence) is estimated at 43.8 million. Cancer treatment not only takes a long time but also imposes significant psychological stress on patients and their close relatives. During this phase of their lives, they often require someone or something to answer their many questions and accompany them through cancer treatment.

To help these cancer patients, Dr. Gandolf Finke and Dr. Jan Simon Raue co-founded Mika and collaborated with Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Leipzig University Hospital to develop an app for patients and their families. Called “Mein interaktiver Krebs-Assistant” (My Interactive Cancer Assistant), the app provides personalized medical services tailored to each patient’s condition, helping them complete their treatment.

Developed jointly by physicians and psycho-oncologists, this application provides cancer patients with information on cancer diagnosis, treatment options, nutritional advice, relaxation exercises, and other resources useful for daily life. In addition to accessing cancer-related information and inspirational stories from fellow patients, users can record their physical and mental well-being, mood fluctuations, and treatment side effects in Mika’s patient diary, creating a reference for future discussions with their treating physicians. By leveraging digital technology, patients can actively participate in their cancer treatment journey. Mika is currently available for download on the App Store and Google Play Store.

Mika’s seed funding round coincided with the passage of Germany’s Digital Healthcare Act (DVG), a decisive turning point for the German digital health market. Now, as digital health companies like Mika can also improve patient outcomes in clinical research, they are increasingly regarded as an essential component of disease care and are subject to medical device regulations. The DVG enables physicians to prescribe these digital therapeutics to patients, with statutory health insurance funds reimbursing the costs.

Dr. Gandolf Finke, founder of Mika, stated: “We are delighted to partner with Ananda Impact Ventures and IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft, having successfully convinced these two experienced venture capital firms of Mika’s value. Together, we can improve the lives of millions of cancer patients.”

Ananda Impact Ventures, founded in 2010 and headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, is one of Europe’s most influential venture capital firms. It aims to empower companies to address social challenges—such as education, sustainable consumption, population aging, and health—in a sustainable, market-oriented manner. Ananda Impact Ventures currently manages approximately €80 million.

IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft, established in 1997 and headquartered in Berlin, Germany, is the venture capital and mezzanine investment arm of Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB), specializing in seed, start-up, early-stage, and mid-stage venture capital investments.

(Compiled by Cheng Tao)