Angels invest in Reading-based healthcare tech startup Occuity

Published by

Nicky Godding

Reading-based disease screening and diagnosis startup Occuity has raised more than £1 million investment through online angel investment platform, the Angel Investment Network (AIN).

Ed Stephens, global head of brokerage at AIN, said: “Healthcare is one of the areas of biggest interest to our investor database. In the year of a global pandemic this is perhaps no surprise - but this business really did tick all the boxes for our investors.

“They have patent-protected IP with a product developed by a team with extensive medical experience. They also have a track record of high value medical and technology exits. We look forward to seeing the development of this business and its potential ability to improve the lives of millions of people,” he added.

The raise took around five months despite COVID-19 preventing face to face meetings, according to Occuity. The tech platform will use the fresh capital to support product development, regulatory approval and further R&D.

Occuity is developing products to screen for, diagnose and monitor major chronic health conditions including diabetes and Alzheimer’s Disease. The platform has developed a non-invasive optical device that works by detecting markers that the body deposits in the eye.

The first product, a non-contact pachymeter, will help opticians diagnose glaucoma. Further products will screen for diabetes, Alzheimer’s Disease and will non-invasively monitor glucose levels for those with diabetes.

Founder and CEO Dr Dan Daly, said: “Occuity’s mission is to revolutionise disease detection by making it non-contacting and pain free. There is nothing else like our product on the market and it is the result of many years of R&D from some of the world’s best medical minds.

“This fundraise enables us to continue to build the team and to develop products. We are initially focusing on optometry and diabetes but believe we can transform how many of the world’s most prevalent, chronic diseases are detected and managed.”

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.