Health
March 20, 2024
Despite the advancements in surgical procedures, a substantial number of patients remain dissatisfied with chronic pain as the most prevalent indication. Patient dissatisfaction goes hand in hand with low patient engagement, leading to a more difficult rehabilitation process and unexpected costs. With its digital solution, moveUP gives patients a personalized, digitally delivered rehabilitation plan, and healthcare providers remote, data-driven insights during the follow-up of their patients. This way, moveUP contributes to a reduced rate of complications, readmissions and hospital stay as well as higher patient satisfaction.
Over the past years, the demand for remote healthcare solutions has continued to rise. Digital, (semi-)automated yet personalized healthcare solutions support practitioners to stay connected to the patient at all times, collect data in a structured way and, in the meantime, focus time and attention on the patients who need it the most. moveUP provides value-based treatment plans on an integrated platform, managed by local care teams and supported 24/7 by b.clinic. This virtual clinic, a subsidiary of moveUP, allows hospitals to outsource part of the post- surgery care in the area of orthopaedics and bariatrics.
Today, moveUP’s application is reimbursed in the area of orthopaedics in Belgium. moveUP is currently reinforcing its presence in the Netherlands, France, Germany and the UK, while exploring the US market. The core platform of moveUP is also used by several major biopharmaceutical and medical device companies as backbone to support the development and delivery of data-driven care pathways. Such partnerships will be amplified and internationalized.
In order to support its growth, moveUP has successfully completed a financing round co-led by Karista and White Fund, in a European consortium with Nina Capital, CAREvolution and Qbic. Early investors, including the Brussels-Capital Region and Sambrinvest, also subscribed to the financing round. The €3.65M raised adds to the €2.7M awarded last year by the European Innovation Council (EIC) to further develop and scale moveUP’s value-based healthcare concept in orthopaedics, bariatrics and beyond, both in Europe and the US.
Ward Servaes, co-founder and CEO of moveUP: “Over the past year, we have made enormous progress with our solution. To date, moveUP has guided over 2,000 patients through their hip and knee replacement, both pre- and post-surgery, with high level patient satisfaction and data completeness rates. This investment will now allow us to scale up. On the one hand, we will apply our expertise in other countries. For this, we already started dedicated activities in selected growth countries. On the other hand, we will further invest in our product. This means further applying our value-based healthcare principles in existing therapies while also targeting other therapeutic areas. It has been great to build out our concept in close collaboration with healthcare providers in hospitals, with the highly appreciated support of Belgian and European authorities.”
Baudouin Hue, Partner at Karista: “We are pleased to co-lead this new investment round to support moveUP’s further development. The value of the concept is indisputable for patients, for healthcare providers and for the healthcare system as a whole. To give an idea: the reductions in hospital readmissions, as well as rationalization of rehabilitation and other indirect costs allow to save up to €1,700 per patient on average (15% of the total cost of the procedure), while showing excellent clinical outcomes. As European healthtech specialists, we strongly believe that moveUP is becoming a true game changer, contributing to a more efficient and value-based healthcare system, which we are very proud to support.”
Michel Baijot, Chairman of White Fund: “As a Belgian investment fund dedicated to the medtech sector, we aim to enrich the existing ecosystem by supporting promising projects that have the potential to revolutionize the healthcare sector. We co-lead this investment round of moveUP as the company’s focus is to deliver better clinical outcomes at a lower cost, leading to a better pre- and post-surgery experience and patient satisfaction. We look forward to sharing our expertise with moveUP’s team in order to further develop this clinically validated solution, both in Belgium and abroad.”
Marc Subirats, Partner at Nina Capital: “At Nina Capital, we invest in need-driven health tech companies with international ambitions, and moveUP ticks all the boxes. The solution delivers meaningful clinical and value outcomes, reinventing healthcare with the help of technology. We will support the team of moveUP to navigate the complex landscape of healthcare stakeholders in Spain, Europe and beyond.”
Jo Dumortier, CEO of CAREvolution: “At CAREvolution, we believe that health is an investment. That is why we support initiatives that have a positive impact on the quality and cost structure of our health system, while improving patient experience. moveUP perfectly fits this philosophy. Their solution contributes to reaching better patient outcomes after orthopaedic and bariatric surgery. We look forward to seeing its impact in other therapeutic areas.”
Jean Van Nuwenborg, Managing Partner at Qbic: “We are proud to be part of the further growth and development of moveUP. It has been exciting to see the amazing progress the company has made since its foundation and we are happy to join the syndicate to support this company to which two of our fund partners (AZ Maria Middelares and VUB) have been and will be contributing meaningfully going forward.”
moveUP is a digital therapeutics company uniquely combining the development of medical technologies, as well as providing care. Founded in 2015 by two engineers, a lawyer and an orthopaedic surgeon, the company develops data-driven personalized remote digital care for post-acute out-patients, delivering similar clinical outcomes at a lower cost, while enabling healthcare professionals to focus on more complex patients or urgent situations. It does so by providing validated and (semi)-automated value-based treatment plans on an integrated multi- modal platform, managed by local care teams and supported by moveUP’s virtual clinic, providing 24/7 expert support. moveUP has offices in Brussels and Ghent. The company employs 25 people. More information on: www.moveup.care
White Fund is an investment fund established in October 2019 with the aim of offering suitable financial solutions and expertise to MedTech companies at the pre-commercialization stage. White Fund’s shareholding includes private, public, local and national shareholders with significant investment capacities: Noshaq, Ogeo Fund, SFPI-FPMI, Invest for Jobs and Finance & Invest Brussels. White Fund also brings together key players in the health sector such as the CHU (teaching hospital) de Liège and Solidaris that support the project and make their network of experts available to the initiative. More information on: www.whitefund.be
Nina Capital is a specialized venture capital firm investing exclusively at the intersection of healthcare and technology. The firm invests in need-driven founders inspired by a vision for the future in which data, computing, networks, and other digital and deep technologies deliver meaningful outcomes and insight for improving health and the provision of care. More information on: www.nina.capital
CAREvolution is a social investment fund supporting innovation in the health & wellbeing sector. The fund invests in seed and early-stage start-ups that have a positive impact on both the quality and costs of our health system and improve the user experience. CAREvolution’s focus domains are Autonomy (solutions allowing people to stay longer at home and to enjoy life in their cherished and familiar environment), Healthier Living (solutions enabling individuals to be a proactive actor in managing their health and changing their health habits) and Prevention in work context (solutions allowing employers to take better care of the health and wellbeing of their employees). More information on: www.carevolution.be
Qbic is an early-stage and sector-agnostic, interuniversitary fund that invests in spin-offs and in young innovative ventures with a technology link to the Qbic associated universities and knowledge centers. Qbic is managed by an independent team of experts in investments and management. With around €100M in resources, Qbic is one of the largest spin-off funds in Europe.
Qbic I started in 2012 and allocated all its resources to 18 ventures. Qbic II is now in its final investment year and has so far built a portfolio of 16 investments. More information on: www.qbic.be
