Having recently graduated from Fit 4 Start, WAVY MEET is currently conducting clinical trials to obtain the medical device certification for its remote cardiac rehabilitation platform, paving the way for commercialisation.
“When I first started the Fit 4 Start programme, I knew nothing about business and entrepreneurship,” said Antonio Ken Iannillo, cybersecurity research scientist, software engineer and one of the three co-founders of WAVY MEET.
A few months in the intensive coaching programme is all it took to change that. “It was a great opportunity to understand our market and learn about building a company because the programme really guided you step by step on the different key points needed to bring a product to market,” explains Antonio.
While WAVY MEET’s product – a remote cardiac rehabilitation platform – was all but finished, their business was still very much in the early stages of its development.
“Right now we are in the pre-commercialization phase, running clinical trials with the CHL thanks to the funding of Fondation Coeur – Daniel Wagner. We have also started to actively discuss with hospitals and universities around Europe to get more data for our certification process,” says Antonio.
Commercialisation process
Already in discussions with universities and healthcare providers in Portugal, Germany and Italy, WAVY MEET is looking to add a total of five clinical trials by the end of the year. As a healthtech, running as many clinical trials as possible is key to ensuring a smooth adoption process once the commercialization begins.
“There is a huge gap between the incorporation of the startup and the moment you become commercialisable that’s why we need external funding from private investors to cover this gap,” explains Antonio.
This gap can easily take up to two years, which is why the startup is looking to raise €300K by the end of the year, planning to get the certification for their product by the end of 2024.
“Getting a medical startup off the ground is a long-distance game, it’s not a project where having traction on the market is enough to get started.”
Antonio Ken Iannillo, cybersecurity research scientist, software engineer and one of the three co-founders of WAVY MEET.
As 500 million people annually continue to suffer from so-called cardiac events – “heart attacks, heart surgeries, or anything else related to the heart” – the potential for WAVY MEET’s platform to ease patients’ rehabilitation process remains a promising prospect for Luxembourg’s nascent healthtech sector.
