Diagnostics innovation start-up receives £2m in first funding round

Sanome, a European health start-up, has raised £2 million as its first round of funding from a number of leading UK and European healthtech specialist investors. The round was led by Heal Capital, with participation from Crista Galli Ventures, Selvedge Ventures, o2h Ventures, Meltwind and several high-profile angels including David Cleevely and Pam Garside.

Sanome has developed a diagnostics innovation engine that combines biomarkers to develop medical grade, at home diagnostic products (IVDs) more efficiently and effectively. Most digital health, wearables and consumer biotech tools have limited medical use because it’s hard to validate them clinically. Sanome’s approach leverages these existing technologies to develop at home test that are clinically validated to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. Ultimately, laying the foundation for the early detection and prevention of diseases of high unmet need.

Sanome was founded by experienced entrepreneurs Benedikt von Thüngen (CEO) and Dr Marc van der Schee (chief medical officer). They combine a unique set of experiences including software, clinical, healthcare, AI/ ML and biomarker development, as well as having built and scaled multiple successful companies before, including Owlstone Medical and Speechmatics.

The investment will be used to expand the team across London, Amsterdam, and Cambridge; deliver on key strategic and commercial partnerships to develop and validate the first set of IVD candidates.

Benedikt von Thüngen, CEO and co-founder of Sanome, said: “Healthcare touches each and every one of us and the recent pandemic has highlighted that at a global level. It showed the need to bring healthcare closer to people’s homes and that we need to leverage many of the recent innovations in digital health and consumer biotech to capture as many data points about human health as possible. This will transform our understanding of the human body and our approach to disease detection and management. At Sanome we are working toward developing multiple at home health tools to drive disruption within the healthcare landscape to benefit each one of us.

“Our approach is about inclusivity for all in healthcare and that is at the heart of everything we do at Sanome.”

Dr Marc van der Schee, CMO & co-founder of Sanome, added: "The way in which diagnostic tests are developed doesn't align with what patients and doctors need and want. A singular diagnostic test doesn't capture the complexity of health and disease, and therefore can't deliver true impact. Sanome will create a paradigm shift in diagnostics development by making them 10x more effective, faster and impactful."

Eckhardt Weber, partner at Heal Capital, commented: “Sanome will change the way patients, providers and payers interact with healthcare. By pioneering a new model for IVD innovation, they can create medical-grade diagnostics that truly focus on solving our healthcare system’s most pressing problems. We could not be happier to be supporting Sanome’s exceptional founding team on the journey to make healthcare inclusive, preventative and proactive.”