French startup FeetMe, maker of a wearable device to track gait and posture, landed €9.4 million ($10.3 million) in Series A funding. LBO France led the round with participation from Kurma Diagnostics, Paris Saclay, Idinvest Partners, Seventure and SOSV.
This comes two years after the company raised its initial $2.28 million in seed funding, which was led by Kurma Diagnostics.
WHAT THEY DO
The company takes a multipronged approach to gathering insights about a user’s gait. FeetMe’s sensor comes in the form of a shoe insole and includes both pressure and motion sensing technology. The system is also outfitted with an algorithm to help analyze a person’s walk.
The sensors can be used in gait evaluation and in rehabilitation services. It can also be used to help stimulate modality. The sensors come with a corresponding app, tailored to either evaluations or rehab, which helps the end users visualize the user’s mobility. The company also has a dashboard that lets doctors and caregivers see the progress of the user.
The technology can be used to monitor disorders associated with disease including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and diabetic foot problems.
WHAT IT’S FOR
This latest funding round will support the company’s as it fosters commercial activities in clinical trials and bolsters its healthcare services for hospitals and rehab facilities.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
Researchers have been interested in using digital tools to assess gait for some time. In fact, in April the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) teamed up with scientists from across Europe to develop a new sensor-enabled tool that will digitally assess the loss in mobility. The project, funded by the European Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking, has a whopping €50 million behind it.
ON THE RECORD
“Our platform has demonstrated it can generate unique insights and real-world evidence to accelerate clinical research at scale, and our FeetMe Evaluation solution is setting a new standard for long-term continuous mobility assessment of patients with gait disorders,” Alexis Mathieu, founder and CEO at FeetMe, said in a statement. This Series A round will help FeetMe to accelerate commercial activities.”
