The funding from the Development Bank of Wales will help the university spinout commercialise its rapid diagnostic tests for urinary tract infections.
"UTI prevalence is rising with an ageing population and the increase in antibiotic resistant infections. The gold standard for UTI diagnosis is microbiological urine culture and, in the UK, millions of urine tests are processed and cultured each year. However, a major drawback of urine culture systems is the time lag of approximately two days between specimen collection and pathogen identification. Fast and accurate diagnosis, leading to a rational treatment, is essential to achieve a timely and effective therapy."
The pre-seed round was led by YZR Capital to support clinical trials and platform development for eating disorder care.
"The widening gap between the need for care and available resources, along with the lack of personalised treatment options, urgently requires a radical rethink of how eating disorder care is provided. Our goal is to revolutionise care pathways, providing tools that empower clinicians and deliver meaningful results. We aim to keep people out of hospital and enable better long-term recovery while saving costs for the healthcare system. Univa’s platform will augment the overwhelmed clinical workforce by providing evidence-based tools to reach more patients and families, enabling earlier intervention, improved monitoring, and faster recovery."
The funding round combines backing from the Development Bank of Wales and Women Angels of Wales with grant support.
"We’re working hard to encourage more women to get involved with angel investing. Our support for Kaydiar is a great example of bringing together grant, angel and institutional funding to provide the resources to support the development of an innovative, early-stage company in Wales. Our syndicate is delighted to support Heather Smart and David Barton, two young podiatrists who are applying new technologies to improve patient outcomes in the footcare sector. We all look forward to working with Kaydiar to build a world class company."
Two new investors have joined the board with a combined 40% stake after a six week process.
"This was a particularly enjoyable project to work on. Management were always responsive and professional in their dealings with investors we introduced. Terms were quickly negotiated and from start to finish the whole investment process took just six weeks and that included all of August!"
