aktiia raises CHF 4M to reinvent blood pressure monitoring

Founded by experts from the Swiss research institute CSEM, aktiia developed a technology that combines common optical sensors, widely-known for tracking heart-rate in today’s wearables, and clinically validated software algorithms to measure an individual’s blood pressure at the wrist.

The algorithms will be embedded in non-medical third-party wearables for the preventive purpose to track blood pressure trends, as well as in aktiia’s medical grade wearable to monitor precise blood pressure values that can be used for the diagnosis and management of hypertension. aktiia is currently developing both strategic third-party manufacturer partnerships, as well as its full product offering.

“There’s an urgent need to address the problem of hypertension, as it affects every third adult, and is the largest epidemic known to mankind. We will empower people with cutting-edge technology in this fight.”, said Mattia Bertschi, co-founder and CEO.

The startup has today announced the completion of its seed round of CHF 4M led by the Silicon Valley-based TransLink Capital and Swiss-based Redalpine. The seed round also includes strategically recruited international angel investors: Christian Wenger (Switzerland), Mladen Barbaric of Pearl Studios (Canada), and Sparks Street Capital (USA), underpinning the company with a global network and commercialization experience. The funding will fuel aktiia in achieving its goal of getting hypertension monitors to those who need it most.

“TransLink has always been on the forefront of wearable technologies, and we are constantly on the lookout for pioneers. We are very excited to be a part of what will be a healthcare game changer,” said Eric Hsia, Managing Director of TransLink Capital.

The development of aktiia’s patented technology is directed by the co-founder and CTO, Josep Sola, a pioneering expert in the field. “This technology is a quantum leap in the fight against hypertension and will revolutionize the way we look at blood pressure,” stated Michael Sidler, Co-Founder, and Partner of Redalpine.

About aktiia
Aktiia is a Swiss startup founded in May 2018 by Mattia Bertschi (CEO) and Josep Sola (CTO). The team currently counts ten employees and is located in Neuchatel and Zürich. aktiia’s patented core technology for blood pressure monitoring is based on more than 15 years of pioneering work and over 30 peer-reviewed publications at the Swiss research and technology organization CSEM. aktiia’s technology combines common optical sensors and clinically validated software algorithms to measure an individual’s blood pressure at the wrist. The technology has been validated through trials in acute and low-acute settings with worldwide acknowledgment of its accuracy.

(Press Release)