Medtech Startup GyroGear raises US$4.3m in Phase One of Seed Round led by Taiwan Manufacturing Giant Foxconn
SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 25
February 2021 - UK-based neuromuscular medical device
company, GyroGear Ltd has just concluded phase one of its seed round fundraise.
This round was led by Foxconn Technology Group, the world's largest and
foremost electronics manufacturer. Foxconn has invested £1 million (US$1.41 million)
upfront. Participants in GyroGear's seed round include the UK Government Future
Fund, Singapore venture builder Fidelium Group, and other established strategic
investors and business leaders. Phase two of the seed round is ongoing and
scheduled for completion in March 2021.
Chairman Young-way Liu (right) and Dr Faii Ong (left) at Foxconn Technology Group, Taipei.
GyroGear
is developing a wearable to help individuals with hand tremors. The wearable
reduces tremors, so they may perform their day-to-day activities. This also
brings relief to caregivers and family members.
"In the US alone, the economic burden of Parkinson's
Disease amounts to $51.9 billion every year, growing to $79.1 billion by 2037. Essential
Tremor alone is up to 20 times more prevalent than Parkinson's, and can manifest
at any point in one's life. The impact of not being able to use one's hands is beyond
what any numbers can describe. GyroGear was founded to specifically address
this large unmet medical need, and to provide simple, elegant solutions to restore
the quality of life to 200 million tremor patients worldwide," explains Dr Faii Ong, Founder and CEO of GyroGear.
Dr Ong adds, "Our partnership with Foxconn elevates GyroGear's existing
world-class engineering and advisory base with further strategic and technical
expertise. It grants GyroGear access to class-leading advanced technologies and
capabilities as we ready our flagship product, the GyroGlove™, for
international launch."
GyroGear's
flagship product, the GyroGlove™, is the world's first and only wearable medical device that adopts
cutting edge aerospace technology and satellite-grade mechanical gyroscopes. The technology effectively and
swiftly counteracts hand tremors, thus restoring normal use of the hand.
Lightweight and efficacious, the GyroGlove™ unobtrusively
empowers users to overcome their daily challenges, offering hope to the millions
of tremor sufferers worldwide who struggle with everyday tasks.
Potential users include those with
Parkinson's Disease and Essential Tremor, with both conditions affecting over 200
million people worldwide. Prevalence of both diseases has been rapidly
increasing this past decade. Current therapies include medication and
neurosurgery. Medication is accompanied by significant side effects. Whereas
neurosurgery is limited to a small minority of patients due to its inherent
risks. There is currently no cure for hand tremors.
"We
are eager and excited to partner with GyroGear and bring the GyroGlove™ to
Asia. The partnership is another reflection of our long-term commitment to our
"3+3=∞" vision, which symbolises the infinite possibilities created by
Foxconn's industrial advancement and emerging technologies," said Young-way Liu, Chairman of
Foxconn Technology Group.
Paul Lim, Chairman of Fidelium Group and
Senior Advisor to GyroGear Ltd added, "GyroGear fills a huge gap in
today's medical spectrum. Many tremor patients suffer in silence as the disease
robs them not only of the ability to carry on simple daily activities, but more
importantly, many suffer silently, with mental trauma caused by embarrassment
from uncontrollable shaking. They avoid going out to public spaces and recluse
themselves from social activities. Founder CEO Dr Faii Ong is a visionary
leader who has led his team to invent this elegant solution that will change
the lives of millions of tremor patients in the world."
The
funds raised will be used for clinical trials, regulatory approval and further
R&D. This round closes March 2021.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About GyroGear
GyroGear Ltd is a neuromuscular
medical device company incorporated in 2016 by Dr
Faii Ong. It is the only medical device company worldwide to utilise mechanical
gyroscopes. Whilst
still a student at Imperial College London, Dr Ong was moved to action after
witnessing the distress experienced by a 103-year-old Parkinson's patient at a
London hospital. Dr Ong and his team invented the GyroGlove™ as a
solution to help millions in the same situation.
GyroGear's flagship product is the
GyroGloveTM,
a wearable device that mechanically
stabilises hand tremors with cutting edge aerospace-grade gyroscopes.
The GyroGlove™ has demonstrated promising
results. Volunteers are able to put on the GyroGlove™ independently, and start
to feed themselves, insert keys into keyholes, write once more, and for some,
even thread a needle and sew again.
Since
its inception, GyroGear has been featured prominently in global media
publications including Popular Science, MIT Technology Review, the BBC, Forbes,
Reuters and the Washington Post. In December 2020, GyroGear won first runner-up
out of 7,500 participating start-ups from 159 nations, at SLINGSHOT 2020. The
judges were Eduardo Saverin, Forest Li, Sequoia Capital, Temasek and SG
Enterprise. SLINGSHOT 2020 is the leading start-up competition in South East
Asia, organised by the Singapore government.
GyroGear has been awarded over
$3.3M in funding from the EU Horizon 2020 and Innovate UK, to develop the GyroGlove™.
Established in Taiwan in 1974, Hon
Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) (2317: Taiwan) is the world's largest
electronics manufacturer. Foxconn is also the leading technological solution
provider and it continuously leverages its expertise in software and hardware
to integrate its unique manufacturing systems with emerging technologies.
About UK Future Fund
Announced by the Government of the
United Kingdom on 20th April 2020, the Future Fund issues convertible loans to
innovative UK companies with good potential that typically rely on equity
investment. The scheme is designed by the government and delivered by the
British Business Bank.
Fidelium Group is a venture builder, investment and
management consulting company with a presence in Asia, Europe, the United
Kingdom and the United States.
The company provides a suite of comprehensive
services for SMEs and start-ups which include corporate structuring, corporate
finance, fundraising and corporate secretarial services.