Tympany Medical CEO Liz McGloughlin and CTO Rory O’Callaghan. Image: Andrew Downes/Xposure
Tympany Medical aims to secure regulatory approval for its endoscopic technology to make ENT surgery less invasive.
Galway medtech start-up Tympany Medical has secured seed investment of €3.5m led by European technology growth firm Atlantic Bridge.
The funding round also included significant investment from Galway-headquartered start-up support ecosystem Ascentifi, as well as Xenium Capital, Mayo Clinic Ventures, the Western Development Commission, Enterprise Ireland and a number of angel investors.
The company’s founders plan to use the funding to secure regulatory approval for its first endoscope for ear surgery. The funding will also go towards the development of Tympany Medical’s endoscopic camera technology platform, which can be used by ENT surgeons.
Tympany Medical’s CEO and co-founder, Dr Liz McGloughlin, said the investment came at a “key time” in the start-up’s development.
She added that the investment would allow the start-up to grow its team and advance the development of its technology, which “is at the cutting edge of mechanics, optics, electronics and human-centred design”.
McGloughlin co-founded the company with CTO Rory O’Callaghan in 2018 after the pair completed the BioInnovate Ireland programme. Tympany Medical is an NUI Galway spin-out currently located at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology’s iHub.
In 2019, it was a runner-up in the Best Business Idea category at Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur awards.
Tomás Ó Síocháin, CEO of the Western Development Commission, commented that his organisation is “building on the world renowned medtech sector that exists in the west of Ireland”.
Its investment in Tympany Medical comes from its €75m evergreen investment fund and adds to its “extensive” medtech and life science portfolio.
More than 660,000 ear surgeries are performed per year in the US and Europe, and Helen Ryan of Atlantic Bridge said Tympany’s endoscope technologies have the potential to disrupt this market and improve outcomes for patients. As part of the investment, Ryan will join Tympany Medical’s board of directors.
Kevin Marmion of Ascentifi added that his organisation’s investment marked its “continued support of highly ambitious medtech companies”.
Tympany Medical has been supported to date by Enterprise Ireland via the Commercialisation Fund programme, as well as EIT Health through its Innovation Project and Amplifier programmes. It has also been awarded support from the Government’s Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund.
“Having the support and backing of seasoned medtech investors will accelerate our growth trajectory significantly,” McGloughlin concluded.
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