Avelo wins CHF 150,000 to improve respiratory disease diagnoses

Up to 20% of all doctor visits are due to respiratory infections, which resulted in 7 million deaths in 2020 alone. Nearly all of these are due to Tuberculosis and other infections in the lower respiratory tract that cause pneumonia, the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. But their diagnosis is neither easy nor reliable. Avelo’s vision is to make every breath count with its revolutionary breath collector, AveloCollect. Doctors use the device to painlessly collect a patient’s breath sample and analyze it with existing PCR tests for a fast and accurate diagnosis.

Avelo’s innovation is a novel breath sampling technology that contains a functional nanofiber filter. This filter combines the collection of human breath aerosols that contain infectious pathogens from the respiratory tract with a quick and efficient release of these pathogens for subsequent detection. It is compatible with a variety of molecular tests and laboratory workflows, is affordable and scalable, and enables breath biobanking for the first time. With the results, doctors can take proper action and select the right treatment or refer severe cases to the hospital. This improves patient outcomes and saves healthcare costs.

Lowering hospital costs

Avelo invented AveloCollect with broad utility in mind, comparable to other sample collection technologies such as blood tubes. The device in combination with a PCR test could help to lower annual hospital costs and support the fight against antimicrobial resistance by reducing the more than 65% of antibiotics unnecessarily prescribed in primary care. Avelo’s market analysis indicates a global market potential of USD 5.8 billion by 2025, with an annual growth rate of 7%.

Avelo’s leadership team consists of co-founders Melanie Aregger, Chief Executive Officer, and Tobias Broger, Chief Technology Officer. Together they bring a combined 22 years of experience in the medtech industry to the company.

“Venture Kick has been invaluable for the past 12 months. It kickstarted us in terms of fundraising and finding investors, some of the investors in the jury approached us after our pitch. This usually doesn’t happen. Even more, the training— and particularly the feedback— of its great experts helped us to shape our business case and focus on value-generating activities. We feel very honored and are grateful to be part of the leading startup platform in Switzerland. We look forward to the new funding possibilities with the additional Kick Fund as we continue our growth journey to make every breath count,” said Melanie Aregger, CEO of Avelo.

(Press release / SK)