UroMems Raises 16 Million Euros to Develop Electronic Artificial Urinary Sphincter

UroMems, developer and manufacturer of the electronic artificial urinary sphincter (eAUS), has raised 16 million euros, which included a combination of equity and debt financing. The proceeds of the financing are expected to fund ongoing preclinical studies and the initiation of the first clinical studies of UroMems’ eAUS device, which is being developed for the treatment of Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI).
 
The eAUS is an active implantable medical device which compensates for sphincter insufficiency in patients with SUI. Protected by over 80 patents, it is based on the latest technologies in embedded intelligent systems and software.
 
The financing round was led by Hil-Invent GmbH, with co-investor Financière Arbevel. Existing UroMems investors, including Wellington Partners, Bpifrance, via its FABS fund, Cita Investissement, Supernova Invest and btov Partners also participated in this financing, as well as the company’s founders. The debt financing was provided by a syndicate including Bpifrance, BNP Paribas, Caisse d’Epargne, Crédit Agricole and Banque Populaire.
 
“We were able to accomplish a tremendous amount with the proceeds of our Series A, which was completed in 2016,” said Hamid Lamraoui, CEO and co-founder of UroMems. “That capital enabled us to complete development of the eAUS device and all industrialization processes necessary to pursue clinical development of the technology. This additional capital will allow us to initiate the first phase of our clinical development program. We are grateful for the support of Hil-Invent and Financière Arbevel, as well as the continued confidence of our Series A investors.”
 
Pr. Pierre Mozer, co-founder of UroMems and Urological Surgeon at Paris Hospital added, “SUI is a highly prevalent condition. It has a major impact on a patient quality of life and is currently treated using products that have not seen meaningful advancement in decades. The results of our preclinical studies were very encouraging and give us confidence as we prepare to launch our clinical trials in the near future.”
 
According to the National Association for Incontinence, approximately 200 million patients suffer from incontinence worldwide. Of these, 75 percent to 80 percent are women and the majority suffer from SUI. UroMems’ eAUS aims to address a major unmet need in a market estimated at $2 billion per year.
 
In connection with the financing, Friedrich Hillebrand, PhD, President of Hil-Invent and Louis Geslin, PhD, Private Equity Portfolio Manager at Financière Arbevel, have agreed to join the company’s Board of Directors.
 
Dr. Hillebrand has more than 40 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry, covering a range of disciplines including research and development, manufacturing and quality, business development, marketing, and sales. In addition to his role at Hil-Invent, he currently serves as president of EVER Pharma. Previously, he was CEO of EBEWE Pharma, where he was involved in several significant M&A transactions including the $1.2 billion sale of the EBEWE Oncology business to Novartis. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry from the Technical University of Vienna.
 
Dr. Geslin joined Financière Arbevel in 2016 as an equity analyst in the healthcare sector and has co-managed the Arbevel Life Sciences Crossover I fund since 2018. Before joining Arbevel, he held positions of increasing responsibility at prominent European venture capital funds, including Seventure Partners, Advent Life Sciences and Bpifrance. Dr. Geslin began his career in the hospital sector at Hôpital Timone and Institut Paoli-Calmettes. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of NG Biotech and Imactis. He earned a Ph.D. in pharmacy and is a graduate of the ESSEC French Grande Ecole program.
 
“We were impressed with the quality of the device and its potential to address a major unmet need among both patients and surgeons, said Dr. Hillebrand. “UroMems is managed by a team of highly skilled engineers, medical technology experts and entrepreneurs who brought the device to industrial maturity. The fact that the company has its own manufacturing capacity ready to scale is a significant competitive advantage that will be an important element of its go-to-market strategy.”
 
Dr Rainer Strohmenger, Managing Partner at Wellington Partners added, “We are very excited to have Hil-Invent and Financière Arbevel on-board for the funding of this great venture. The company has achieved multiple critical milestones since its last round of funding, which we believe speaks to the potential of UroMems to be a disruptive force in this large market.”
 
The eAUS is an electronic artificial urinary sphincter designed to overcome the limitations of current solutions by optimizing safety and performance, patient experience and surgeon convenience.