Sentante Secures €6 Million in New Funding to Revolutionize Endovascular Care

Sentante, a pioneering medical device company headquartered in Lithuania, announces the closing of a €6 million seed funding round led by Practica Capital with the participation of the EIC fund. The company will use the proceeds from the financing for the planned clinical trial of the Sentante robotic system and the preparation of a commercial launch in targeted international markets.

“We appreciate the trust and support from our new investors to help us reach our critical milestones. Sentante will revolutionize the way endovascular procedures are performed, and we are looking forward to introducing our robotic system into clinical practice,” said Edvardas Satkauskas, co-founder and CEO of Sentante. “Our innovative robotic technology will digitize and improve the procedure by empowering physicians to work with better accuracy, precision, and safety.”

Endovascular management of cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke, heart attacks, and peripheral artery disease, involves over six million procedures annually. Despite the market's size and innovations in the field, the procedure remains largely unchanged for over four decades. Physicians typically operate next to an X-ray source while wearing heavy lead aprons, manually navigating catheters and guidewires inserted into the patient's vascular system. This method poses a heightened risk of medical errors and complications due to the non-ergonomic workspace and serious occupational hazards from prolonged X-ray exposure.

Sentante will be easily incorporated into the existing treatment workflow, as it uses the same medical devices as in a manual procedure. “We look forward to the initiation of the first-in-human clinical study later in 2024, marking a pivotal milestone that will showcase Sentante's capabilities in peripheral vascular interventions,” said Dr. Tomas Baltrunas, co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of the company. “Controlled intuitively via conventional endovascular devices as the interface, the Sentante robotic system senses operators' movements, providing a near-natural haptic force feedback experience. Even when working remotely, I can experience the same sensation of catheter and guidewire resistance as if I were physically present beside the patient.”

"We are thrilled to partner with Sentante, a company that aligns perfectly with our philosophy of supporting transformative innovations. With their unique teleoperated endovascular intervention system, Sentante is set to redefine surgical practices globally, improving both patient outcomes and the well-being of medical professionals. This investment underscores our commitment to advancing healthcare technologies that have the potential to create a significant, positive impact worldwide," said Tomas Andriuškevičius, partner at Practica Capital.

Svetoslava Georgieva, Chair of the EIC Fund Board, said: “The EIC Fund aims at backing European innovators in scaling their journey, and Sentante is a great example of how the European Union is helping top innovators. The EIC Fund's ambitious commitment, alongside other investors, is an important step to boost their development.”

Sentante remains dedicated to advancing the landscape of endovascular care, offering a transformative solution that promises to redefine medical practice globally.

About Sentante

Introduction video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-8jG5mAXjE
Sentante is an innovative teleoperated robotic system developed by UAB Inovatyvi Medicina. It allows an entire endovascular intervention to be performed remotely, from a different room, so physicians and the entire medical team can work without being exposed to harmful X-ray radiation. In the future, Sentante will allow physicians to perform endovascular treatment from a remote hospital, eliminating the need for physical patient transfer. This innovation bears profound significance, particularly in critical cases such as stroke, where each passing minute significantly impacts the chances of a good outcome.

About Practica Capital

Practica Capital is an early-stage VC dedicated to backing Baltic founders. The firm has been investing exclusively in tech potential in the Baltic States for over 10 years. Practica Capital backs great founders in their ambition in seed, selected pre-seed, and Series A stages, partnering with them as company builders. Practica Capital manages four funds with more than €130 million in AUM. To date, the firm has made over 60 investments, including great companies like Atrandi, Oxipit, Biomatter Designs, PVcase, TransferGo, Interactio, Eneba, Ovoko, CGtrader, and others. Find out more: https://practica.vc

About EIC Fund

The European Innovation Council Fund from the European Commission is an agnostic Fund: it invests across all technologies and verticals, and all EU countries and countries associated with Horizon Europe. It provides the investment component of the EIC Accelerator blended finance. The European Investment Bank acts as an investment adviser to the EIC Fund.

The EIC Fund aims to fill a critical financing gap, and its main purpose is to support companies in the development and commercialization of disruptive technologies, bridging with and crowding in market players, and further sharing risk by building a large network of capital providers and strategic partners suitable for co-investments and follow-on funding. The Fund has – amongst others – the ambition to reduce the innovation divide among EU countries.