The medtech startup Sedivention has closed a seed financing round of €2.9 million. The round is led by lead investor bmp Ventures alongside the IBG funds; other investors include the strategic investment arm of a global medtech company, existing investor High Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), superangels, and Cambridge Ventures. With the fresh capital, Sedivention aims to further develop its novel outpatient therapy for treating obesity and generate initial clinical data to prepare for market entry.
Addressing A Growing Global Healthcare Challenge
According to the World Obesity Federation, obesity — which is expected to affect over one billion people worldwide by 2030 — is one of the greatest medical and economic challenges of our time. Existing treatment options face significant limitations: bariatric surgery is highly invasive and accessible to only a small proportion of patients, while drug therapies are costly and require long-term use. This is exactly where Sedivention comes in.
“Obesity is a chronic condition that requires treatments that are medically effective yet gentle,” says Dr. Ute Nollert, founder and Chief Medical Officer of Sedivention. “Our approach directly addresses the underlying disruption in hunger and satiety regulation, enabling a lasting reduction in feelings of hunger – without surgery, without implants, and without lifelong medication.”
Cryo-Based Outpatient Therapy
Sedivention is developing a minimally invasive, one-time, outpatient therapy based on a targeted cryo procedure. At the heart of the technology is a specially designed cryo balloon catheter that is inserted in a manner similar to a gastroscopy. Precise cryoablation interrupts the hunger-related gastric branches of the vagus nerve. This approach addresses the central physiological cause of obesity — impaired hunger and satiety regulation — and lays the foundation for long-term effects.
In addition to addressing medical needs, Sedivention is tapping into a massive market: the global healthcare costs for those affected are expected to reach up to $4 trillion annually.
“We are developing a proprietary medtech solution with the potential to redefine a global market worth billions through scalable, outpatient treatment,” says Dr. Andreas Bröcker, co-founder and CEO of Sedivention. “Our technology has been designed for international scalability from the outset and addresses a market that has not yet been efficiently tapped, with significant growth potential.”
Next Steps Toward Clinical Validation
A functional prototype has already been successfully developed and tested. The therapy is designed as a one-time, interventional treatment that leaves no foreign material in the body. With this seed funding, Sedivention plans to complete product development, conduct the First-in-Human Study, and prepare for the next clinical and regulatory steps.
Investor Confidence In Market Potential
The approach is also generating significant interest among investors.
“Sedivention combines medical evidence with a clearly scalable and cost-effective medtech approach,” says Dr. Jan Engels, Senior Investment Manager at HTGF. “The team is addressing a globally relevant medical condition with a technologically compelling solution.”
“Sedivention is developing an innovative and compelling MedTech technology to sustainably redefine obesity therapy,” says Carlos Figueredo, Investment Manager at bmp Ventures. “The solution has enormous transformative potential for one of the world’s largest healthcare markets.”
“When we look back in 10 years, Sedivention will be one of the companies that changed obesity treatment forever. Existing solutions manage - Sedivention solves,” says Franzi Majer, Founding partner at superangels. “That’s the kind of impact we look for: a team with the conviction and the technology to redefine one of the largest markets in the world.”
In the long term, Sedivention aims to replace highly invasive surgical procedures with interventional procedures that can be performed on an outpatient basis, thereby sustainably improving access to effective medical care.