CorWave Secures $17.1M Series B Funding to Advance Biomimetic LVAD Technology for Heart Failure Patients

CorWave, a medtech company developing disruptive left ventricular assist devices using mechanical circulatory support technology, has secured $17.1 million in Series B financing. The round was led by two new venture capital firms, Novo Seed and Ysios Capital, with participation from existing investors Sofinnova Partners, Bpifrance, and Seventure.

Following the financing round, Emmanuelle Coutanceau from Novo Seeds and Josep Lluis Sanfeliu from Ysios Capital will join the company’s Board of Directors. Additionally, cardiovascular medicine expert Michel Darnaud will serve as an independent director on the Board.

CorWave, a French startup incubated by the European medtech entrepreneurship incubator MD Start, was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Paris. In 2013, the company secured Series A financing (the investment amount was undisclosed) to develop advanced medical devices aimed at assisting patients with heart failure. Gérard Hascoët, who currently serves as Chairman of CorWave, stated, “From day one, we recognized the potential of this unique technological innovation in addressing heart failure. Realizing this potential required not only specialized expertise but also engineering capabilities and funding to bridge the existing technological gaps.”

Bolstered by the latest round of financing, CorWave has secured sufficient resources to proceed with its first-in-human trials, ultimately delivering this industry-disruptive technology into the hands of clinicians.

Heart failure is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Cardiac transplantation is the most effective treatment for patients with end-stage heart failure, but this option is available to only a small minority of patients. A Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) is a powered blood pump implanted below the natural heart; it can restore blood flow to normal levels and alleviate the primary symptoms associated with heart failure. Its efficacy is 6–8 times higher than that of an Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump (IABP), effectively assuming more than 80% of the heart’s workload, with a pumping capacity of up to 10 L/min.

Implantation of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) can help restore blood flow to normal levels and alleviate the major symptoms associated with heart failure. While LVADs can provide patients with up to 10 years of additional life, current technologies generate non-physiological flow, and 80% of users face a high risk of severe adverse complications, such as stroke, hemorrhage, or bacterial infection. CorWave has innovatively developed a novel pumping technology that mimics the natural beating pattern of the heart, overcoming the limitations of rotary-pump LVADs and thereby reducing the risk of complications. Although LVAD technology has significantly improved over earlier generations, the use of high-speed rotary pumps essentially exposes blood to relatively high levels of stress and potential red blood cell damage. Active membrane technology offers a solution for pumping blood in a gentler manner, with additional advantages in terms of size and cost.

Louis de Lillers, CEO of CorWave, stated: “

“The R&D team is led by Carl Botterbusch, a renowned expert in left ventricular assist devices (LVADs). Clinicians, scientists, and our engineers are accumulating growing evidence that our technology can substantially reduce the risk of side effects associated with LVAD devices, reinforcing our confidence that CorWave’s technology can significantly improve the clinical performance of LVADs. With the newly secured funding, we are now preparing for human clinical trials to bring this technology into the hands of clinicians.”

Antoine Papiernik of Sofinnova Partners also shared his views on this financing round: “Despite rising expectations among cardiac surgeons, the window for funding incremental innovations backed by large-scale investments from major medtech companies has closed, as such approaches have failed to significantly improve clinical outcomes for LVADs. We are delighted to continue supporting CorWave’s talented management team and believe that CorWave is poised to become the next major breakthrough in the LVAD space for the treatment of chronic heart failure.”

Emmanuelle Coutanceau from Novo Seeds stated, “Our investigation indicates that CorWave fully meets the expectations of cardiac surgeons and cardiologists. We are delighted to join CorWave in striving to turn this vision into reality.”

Regarding the outlook for the LVAD market, Josep Lluis Sanfeliu of Ysios added, “Over the past 18 months, the LVAD market has attracted capital injections from medical technology giants, making it one of the hottest sectors in medtech. St. Jude Medical acquired Thoratec for $3.3 billion, and Medtronic acquired HeartWare for $1.1 billion. With the potential to challenge the dominance of rotary pumps, CorWave is poised to create the next success story driven by European medtech innovation.”

About Novo A/S:

Novo A/S is a privately held limited liability company wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. As the holding company of the Novo Group, it is responsible for managing the foundation’s assets. In addition to being the primary shareholder of Novo Group companies, Novo A/S provides seed and venture capital to development-stage companies, holds significant ownership positions in mature life sciences companies, and manages a broad portfolio of financial assets.

About Ysios Capital:

Ysios Capital is a leading Spanish venture capital firm that provides private equity financing to early- and growth-stage human healthcare and life sciences companies, with a particular focus on pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and medical devices. Founded in 2008, Ysios Capital currently manages over €200 million ($220 million) in assets across two funds.