B-Secur Secures £4M Series A Funding to Advance ECG-Based Biometric Physiological Monitoring

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that biotechnology company B-Secur recently completed a £4 million financing round to further develop its ECG (electrocardiogram) biometric technology, recruit overseas employees, and build new teams.

Investors in this round include Accelerated Digital Ventures (ADV) and Kernel Capital. In 2017, the two firms also provided £3.5 million in seed funding to B-Secur. Following the completion of this round, B-Secur’s total fundraising will reach £10 million.

B-Secur is a biotechnology company headquartered in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Founded in 2002, the company combines ECG with biometric technology to provide advanced physiological monitoring. As one of the 37 fastest-growing tech companies in the UK, B-Secur has been hailed by the renowned research firm Forrester as “a key leader in the global electrocardiogram market.”

Biometric recognition technology refers to the automatic identification and authentication of an individual's identity by utilizing their physiological or behavioral characteristics. Currently, well-known biometric technologies in the industry primarily include facial recognition and fingerprint recognition. However, ECG signal-based biometric technology offers greater uniqueness. This is because variations in heart position, size, and anatomical structure, as well as differences in age, gender, and body weight among individuals, result in distinct ECG signals for each person.

HeartKey is B-Secur’s flagship product, which made its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this year. HeartKey captures electrocardiogram (ECG) signals via wearable sensors—bioelectrical currents generated by cardiac contractions, whose waveform morphology depends on individual anatomical characteristics of the body and heart—to provide real-time health feedback. The product includes the following features:

I. Monitor heart rate;

II. Quantitatively measure the user's current stress status;

3. Receive information such as user age, height, and weight, and calculate the calories burned over a period of time;

IV. Intelligent signal conditioning technology enables high-precision ECG detection and establishes personal physiological data;

In addition to its aforementioned medical diagnostic capabilities, HeartKey is also making headway in the automotive manufacturing sector. By being embedded into vehicle steering wheels, HeartKey monitors drivers’ levels of physical fatigue and provides warnings several minutes before potential hazards arise, thereby reducing the incidence of car accidents. Alan Foreman, CEO of B-Secur, stated, “We will collaborate with top-tier global automakers, wearable device companies, and semiconductor manufacturers to integrate the medical-grade HeartKey device into everyday life.”

Accelerated Digital Ventures is a venture capital firm dedicated to the digital technology sector. The firm has cumulatively invested £150 million.

Kernel Capital is the venture capital fund of Bank of Ireland and one of the largest and most active equity financing institutions in Ireland. Established in 1999, it has offices in Cork, Dublin, and Belfast.

(Compiled by: Feng Yutong)