A compact week: venture debt fuels vascular access, cardiology gets a non-invasive CE mark, and NICE nudges digital rehab platforms toward the NHS.
People on the move
Lucile Blaise joins LivaNova (UK) as Global Head of Commercialization, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, adding strong EU market access chops to the executive team.
Money flows
Xeltis (NL) gets nearly €50M, venture debt + equity; package includes up to €37.5M from EIB (first €10M drawn) and €10M from existing investors EQT Life Sciences and Invest-NL. Funds push aXess vascular access conduit toward EU commercialization.
Angelini Ventures (Italy): €150M EIB co-investment agreement to back European biotech and digital health startups over six years (EIB €75M + Angelini Ventures €75M). Signals more institutional firepower for EU healthtech.
Annette (France) €2M round to scale its GLP-1 companion care platform for structured obesity support; led by Redstone, Ring Capital and AFI Ventures.
Ray Studios (France) €10M to expand its physician-led tattoo-removal clinic network across Europe; co-led by Factory Capital and Nickleby Capital.
On the press
• Cardiawave (FR): Valvosoft® receives CE Mark as the first non-invasive ultrasound therapy for severe symptomatic aortic stenosis; data cited from EU FIM and pivotal studies across 12 centres.
• Boston Scientific: European approval for the Farapoint™ pulsed-field ablation focal catheter to treat atrial fibrillation, complementing Farapulse™ PFA platform.
• NICE (UK) publishes Early Value Assessment (HTE35) for digital platforms supporting cardiac rehabilitation, enabling conditional NHS use while evidence is generated over three years.
One thing to remember
EU cardiology is having a moment: capital is flowing into commercialization-ready devices, while regulators opened the door to earlier adoption of digital rehab and cleared a novel non-invasive therapy. Founders who can pair strong clinical data with payer-relevant outcomes will find both financing and fast-track pathways this winter.
Where the regulations help, the funding flows, and the pilots don’t take geological time
If you ask ten founders where to launch a healthtech startup in Europe, eight will say Berlin, one will say London, and one will whisper Lisbon for “quality of life reasons”. They’re all partially right and all are missing the bigger picture.
Europe isn’t one market. It’s 27 regulatory fiefdoms, three reimbursement philosophies, and a few hundred interpretations of GDPR. Your success depends less on your pitch deck and more on which country actually wants what you’ve built.
Below is your 2025 market map, written for people who need real answers: founders choosing their first market, investors analysing expansion, and operator-types who enjoy pain.
1. France
The most healthtech-friendly major market in Europe
Why France works
Strong government buy-in for digital health.
Funding muscle: Bpifrance, EU4Health, France 2030.
Single-payer structure = easier national rollout.
PECAN (the DiGA-like pathway) actually works.
Best for
Digital care delivery, AI diagnostics, practice management, DTx reimbursement plays.
If your solution is… Data heavy → Nordics / Baltics Reimbursement heavy → France / Germany Consumer-forward → UK Hardware + software → Switzerland / Ireland Cost-sensitive early-stage → Poland / Romania / Spain / Portugal
Europe rewards founders who pick the right first country — not the closest or the coolest. Start where the system actually wants what you’re building.
Europe HealthTech Market Selection Table (2025)
Region
Best For
Strengths
Risks / Caveats
France
DTx, diagnostics, digital care
Strong reimbursement, centralised system, public funding
Bureaucracy and long cycles
Nordics
Remote monitoring, preventive care, data platforms
Oncology operating systems, perioperative risk AI and pre-CT stroke triage all raised fresh capital this week, while Brussels and Munich quietly tightened the screws on AI compliance and imaging vendors celebrated a shiny new CE mark.
People on the move
Ergea Group (Luxembourg) New CEO for pan-European imaging & cancer care
Ergéa, a Luxembourg-based pan-European provider of diagnostic imaging and cancer care services, has promoted David Rolfe from UK CEO to Group CEO and appointed Mark Graves as the new CEO of Ergéa UK, signalling a more integrated European growth push in imaging and radiotherapy infrastructure.
Restore Medical (Israel): ex-Medtronic dealmaker takes the chair
Heart-failure device company Restore Medical (Israel, backed in part by the European Innovation Council Fund) has appointed Chris Cleary, former SVP Corporate Development at Medtronic and architect of the Covidien mega-deal, as chairman of the board to guide its transcatheter heart-failure therapy through advanced US and global clinical development.
Money flows
Gosta Labs (Finland) €7.5M seed, oncology AI operating system Helsinki-based Gosta Labs raised a €7.5 million seed round, led by Voima Ventures with COR Group, the Aho family, Reaktor and other angels, to scale its oncology-focused AI operating system that turns each patient encounter into structured data, slashes documentation time and links care decisions to international treatment guidelines. The company plans to deepen medical-device-grade development and expand deployments across Europe, the Baltics and Australia.
Noteless (Norway) €3.5M to fight doctor burnout Oslo-based Noteless, a Norwegian HealthTech startup automating clinical documentation and task management, closed a €3.5 million round to tackle physician burnout by cutting admin time in hospitals and clinics; the investor syndicate includes People Ventures and Alliance Venture, with the company targeting broader Nordic and European rollout.
Healthplus.ai (NL) €2.3M late-seed for perioperative risk prediction AI Amsterdam-based Healthplus.ai raised €2.3 million in a late-seed round led by Elevating Capital and co-led by LUMO Labs, with ROM InWest and Pathena among the participants, to expand PERISCOPE®, its ISO- and CE-certified AI system that predicts post-surgical infection risk and suggests mitigation strategies for surgical teams. The funding will support deeper EHR integrations (Epic, Cerner, ChipSoft), further model development across perioperative pathways and broader roll-out in Europe plus FDA clearance work for the US.
AI-Stroke (France) $4.6M seed for pre-CT stroke triage Paris-area medtech AI-Stroke secured a US$4.6 million seed round led by Heka (Newfund VC) with Bpifrance and angels, to advance an “AI neurologist” that runs on smartphones or tablets for pre-hospital stroke triage, analysing 30-second video of facial symmetry, arm movement and speech. The capital will fund FDA regulatory work and multisite clinical studies in leading US stroke centres, with the company also adding a heavyweight international stroke advisory board.
On the press
TÜV SÜD launches voluntary EU AI Act conformity certificates
TÜV SÜD announced new services for early, voluntary conformity certificates under the EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689), offering manufacturers of AI systems including high-risk use cases in medicine and medical devices an independent review of technical documentation and partial compliance ahead of mandatory assessments. The program covers gap assessments, training and an “Attestation of Conformity,” aimed at helping companies get AI products AI-Act-ready before notified bodies are fully designated.
GE HealthCare wins CE mark for Omni 128 cm total-body PET/CT
GE HealthCare received CE mark for its Omni 128 cm total-body PET/CT system, enabling commercialisation in the EU of an ultra-long axial field-of-view scanner intended to improve sensitivity, enable low-dose protocols and support advanced oncology and theranostics workflows. The platform is pitched at high-throughput cancer centres and research hubs across Europe.
MHRA outlines “innovative approaches” to medtech regulatory reform
The UK MHRA’s MedRegs blog set out its latest thinking on medtech regulatory reform, highlighting more agile statutory instruments, innovation-friendly approval routes, and closer alignment with international partners for medical devices and IVDs. For EU-facing companies selling into the UK, the piece is a useful signal on future reliance routes and how sandbox-style approaches may coexist with post-market vigilance expectations.
One thing to remember
AI-heavy clinical tools are still getting funded from oncology operating systems to perioperative risk prediction and pre-CT stroke triage. This week’s TÜV SÜD and MHRA moves are a clear reminder that in Europe, “AI-first” now has to mean “AI-and-compliance-first.”
For founders, the competitive edge is shifting toward teams that can show device-grade evidence and be visibly AI-Act-ready long before their product hits a hospital PACS or EHR.
If you work in HealthTech in Europe, you’ve probably noticed something strange. 2024 felt like the world was ending, yet the actual numbers say something very different. Capital didn’t disappear — it simply stopped tolerating nonsense.
Now, in 2025, the money is flowing again, and aggressively so. But it’s flowing selectively.
2024: The Great Reality Filter
Forget the headlines about a funding collapse. What actually happened in 2024 was a reset of expectations. Investors didn’t stop writing cheques, they just stopped writing them for half-baked pitch-deck poetry.
A study analysing ~1,300 funding rounds across European biotech, medtech and digital health showed fewer deals, but bigger ones. Median pre-seed funding actually rose ~15.7% YoY to around €870K, which doesn’t sound like panic to me.
And Q3 2024 alone brought nearly US$2B in HealthTech investment.. The hubs were the usual suspects: UK, Germany, France, with Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands quietly moving up the table.
The hottest segments? Oncology, biotech and AI-powered diagnostics: areas where outcomes are measurable and regulatory paths exist.
Karista summed up the year perfectly: a “reality filter”.
It was not a crash, but a sorting mechanism. The pretenders left the room, the contenders stayed.
2025: Capital Is Back, Smarter
Then 2025 arrived and the mood changed fast.
According to Galen Growth, European digital health funding grew 52% YoY in H1 2025, totalling around US$3.4B across 182 deals. Europe is representing 26% of global funding
Figure 1. European Digital Health Funding Trend 2021–2025 (Indexed) Indexed view using 2021 baseline of 100. 2025 funding growth (52% YoY, US$3.4B H1) based on Galen Growth. 2021–2024 values illustrative, derived from partial public snapshots. Source: disrupting.healthcare
Figure 2. Average Deal Size — 2024 vs 2025 (Relative) Based on publicly reported 3× YoY increase in average deal size (Galen Growth, Healthcare.Digital). Source: disrupting.healthcare
Even more striking: ~65% of all capital went to AI-powered clinical and diagnostic platforms.
Figure 3. Capital Allocation by Segment — H1 2025 ~65% of capital allocated to AI-driven clinical & diagnostic platforms (Galen Growth, H1 2025). Source: disrupting.healthcare
This isn’t a hype revival, but it’s conviction capital. Investors aren’t betting on stories. They’re betting on proof.
The Difference in One Sentence
2024 sorted the real players from the noise. 2025 is paying the real players.
Metric
2024
2025
Deal flow
Reduced volume
Clear acceleration
Average deal size
Reduced volume
€16M
Funding Focus
Biotech, oncology, med-device
AI-clinical & diagnostic
Investor tolerance
Traction required
Validation required
Entry barrier
Brutal
Still high, but capital available
Capital geography
UK, DE, FR
Broader pan-EU activity
What to Do With This Information
If you’re a founder:
If you have validation: raise now.
If you only have a concept deck: don’t waste everyone’s time.
Mix non-dilutive + VC — it’s no longer optional.
If you’re an investor:
Europe is still undervalued vs the US — genuine upside exists.
Secondary acquisitions are coming.
AI is not a theme — it’s now an allocation mechanism.
It’s not 2021 again. 2025 is healthier, clearer, and honestly, more exciting.
Data Methodology & Transparency
The charts included in this article illustrate directional trends in European HealthTech funding rather than precise historical totals. Publicly available data does not provide continuous, fully aggregated funding records across all HealthTech sub-segments (digital health, medtech, diagnostics, biotech) from 2021 through 2024.
The indexed 2021–2025 funding trend chart is a normalized illustrative representation designed to highlight directional recovery and acceleration rather than exact historical volumes. Earlier periods (2021–2024) are estimated using partial public snapshots and normalized to a 2021 baseline of 100 to enable comparison.
The chart communicates trajectory, not absolute values. Where precise historical figures are required (e.g. investor deck, financial report), a consolidated dataset should be constructed from Dealroom / PitchBook / CB Insights / Crunchbase Pro and national grant databases.
The paradigm in healthcare is shifting: instead of “see a doctor when things go wrong”, some start-ups are betting the future lies in “continuous health monitoring for when things haven’t yet gone wrong”. The US model is blazing ahead; Europe is watching with interest and caution.
Strong traction and funding: A beta release in April 2023 reportedly hit ~50,000 paying members and >200,000 on the waitlist. They also closed a Series A backed by top-tier investors including Andreessen Horowitz.
Founded in 2021 (co-founded by Mark Hyman among others) to deliver a membership-based platform offering 100+ biomarker blood tests (and more) twice a year.
Members book tests at lab partners (over 2,000 locations via a partnership with Quest Diagnostics) and then receive reviews and insights from clinicians.
The promise: shift from reactive healthcare (“you’re sick, so treat”) to proactive (“monitor biomarkers, spot trends, intervene earlier”). As described by Function: “Health is not one test — it’s a pattern.”
Why this matters commercially
The business model: subscription + diagnostics + insights. Recurring revenue, high-engagement, measurable service.
The branding is consumer-centric: not “see a doctor”, but “stay ahead of trouble”.
From a marketing/omnichannel viewpoint: digital sign-up, lab booking network, data dashboards, membership renewal incentives.
The value proposition: for individuals willing to pay out-of-pocket, it aligns with performance, longevity, optimisation.
But there are caveats
The price point (~US$499/year for the basic membership) presumes consumers will pay for diagnostics out-of-pocket, outside insurance.
The model thrives in a U.S. environment: high out-of-pocket health spending, fragmented insurance, willingness to pay for wellness. Europe is different.
Europe: Similar plays, but different context
Enter Lucis, a Paris-based start-up positioning itself as “Function Health for Europe”.
Key points:
Lucis offers comprehensive blood testing plus AI-driven insights and personalised recommendations.
They claim to have achieved ~$400k ARR in Paris within four months, partnered with major lab networks in France, and are expanding to multiple European countries.
Their value chain: partner labs (for analytical quality), encrypted GDPR-compliant data, medical team review, actionable results.
Why this is noteworthy for European commercialisation
Reflects an appetite for preventive diagnostics beyond wearable devices and wellness buzz.
Shows that the membership/diagnostics model is crossing the Atlantic, albeit still early stage.
From a marketing perspective: branding preventive health not as gadgetry but as meaningful medical-lifestyle hybrid.
But Europe presents structural challenges
Many European health systems emphasise universal/public coverage; consumer willingness to pay direct for diagnostics may be lower.
Regulatory hurdles: Diagnostic tests often fall under stricter oversight; membership claims around trending biomarkers may invite scrutiny.
Distribution and reimbursement: Selling B2C across countries demands localisation (language, regulatory, lab accreditation) and often B2B or employer channels may be more realistic.
Value proposition needs to show ROI (cost savings, health outcomes) not just “optimisation” for affluent consumers.
Strategic takeaway for life-sciences / omnichannel marketing professionals
If you work in life-sciences commercialisation and are exploring preventive diagnostics or “functional health” (health optimisation, wellness-medical hybrid), here’s a sharper lens:
Model to study: The Function Health structure (subscription + diagnostics + insights) is a template.
Digital marketing to attract consumers or employer channels.
Localise content for markets: language, healthcare system context, pricing comparisons.
Risk management and credibility:
Avoid hype: emphasise what the data can show and what it can’t. Some markers don’t yet have actionable evidence.
Set realistic expectations: diagnostics without follow-through (behaviour change, medical supervision) may be less valuable.
Be prepared for regulatory push-back or scrutiny on claims of “prevention” vs “diagnosis”.
One thing to remember
Subscription diagnostics may be the future’s front door to preventive health, but only those who adapt for Europe’s market dynamics, regulatory terrain and consumer mindset will turn the key.
A compact week: small but pointed rounds in diagnostics and patient safety, a urology partnership scaling across EMEA, radiosurgery planning cleared on both sides of the Atlantic, and a headline corporate restructure.
People on the move
Exstent (UK) – Vascular surgeon Matt Thompson becomes CEO to drive commercialization of patient-specific aortic support.
Money flows
Self.co, formerly known as Allergomedica, (Lithuania) a €2.56M mixed grant + venture to scale molecular allergy testing and expand into the UK, Ireland, Austria and Germany; grant component from Innovation Agency Lithuania.
Enteral Access Technologies (UK) a £500K bridging round to scale DoubleCHEK, its CO₂+pH nasogastric tube placement safety device; building UK adoption and early EU rollout.
Minze Health (Belgium) × Medtronic: a three-year EMEA partnership to offer Minze’s automated bladder diary (Diary Pod) to patients receiving Medtronic sacral neuromodulation therapy; strengthens digital urology care pathways.
On the press
• ZAP Surgical: ZAP-Axon radiosurgery planning system receives both EU CE certification and US FDA 510(k); enables clinical use across the EU and US.
• Siemens to deconsolidate Healthineers: Siemens plans a direct spin-off of 30% of its ~67% stake to shareholders, cutting to ~37% and targeting <20% medium-term; expect governance/strategic autonomy effects for a core European medtech anchor.
Seed-stage cash is trickling into practical, reimbursable workflows (diagnostics, patient safety) while scale comes from channel partnerships and regulatory wins; design for distribution and evidence now so you’re ready when the capital tides turn.
The VCs, public funds, and CVCs writing cheques in European healthtech (2025 edition)
Healthtech funding in Europe is accelerating again. After a cautious 2023, investment rebounded to $4.8 billion in 2024, and Q1 2025 alone brought in $4.3 billion. Healthtech now captures 30 to 35% of all venture activity across the continent. But who’s actually writing those cheques?
This post breaks down the capital stack behind Europe’s digital health growth: venture capital, public funds, and corporate/strategic investors. Whether you’re raising or deploying capital, here’s who you need to know in 2025.
1. Venture Capital: Still the Primary Engine
Venture capital is behind most of the major healthtech rounds in Europe. From seed to Series C, VCs provide the scaling fuel, validation, and network access.
Top 5 VCs Investing in European HealthTech:
Sofinnova Partners: Paris-based life sciences fund active in healthtech, diagnostics, and therapeutics.
Octopus Ventures: UK fund with a strong healthtech thesis, including femtech and digital care.
Speedinvest: Vienna-based early-stage investor with a focus on digital health and care platforms.
EQT Life Sciences: Nordic growth-stage investor in diagnostics, medtech, and health platforms.
Calm/Storm Ventures: Focused on pre-seed and seed-stage digital health across underserved areas like paediatrics and mental health.
Who are the best VCs for digital health in Europe?
Those five are consistently active in 2024-25, spanning early to growth-stage capital.
2. Public & EU Funding: De-risking and Catalysing Growth
Public funding rarely leads rounds, but often enables them. Grants, co-investments, and match funding are key to bridging early clinical stages and reimbursement pilots.
Key Public Funding Sources for HealthTech in Europe:
Horizon Europe: EU R&D programme with dedicated tracks for health and medtech.
EU4Health: €5.3 billion programme for health system resilience and digitalisation.
Bpifrance: France’s national investment bank, active in medtech, digital health, and AI.
Innovate UK: Grant and co-investment body supporting UK healthtech pilots and R&D.
Can you get EU grants for a healthtech startup?
Yes. Programmes like Horizon Europe, EIC Accelerator, and EU4Health fund clinical validation, digital health infrastructure, and medtech scale-up.
3. Corporate Venture & Strategic Investors: Validation with Capital
CVCs and strategic investors are increasingly active in Series B+ deals. They offer more than capital, including access to clinical settings, distribution, and potential M&A.
Key Corporate Venture Funds:
Philips Ventures: Investing in digital diagnostics, patient monitoring, and chronic care.
Do corporates invest in digital health startups in Europe?
Yes. In 2025, CVCs from pharma, medtech, and insurance are increasingly co-investing in digital health.
Estimated Funding Breakdown (2025):
Source
Share Estimate
Role
Venture Capital / PE
65–75%
Lead rounds, scale capital
Public Funds / Grants (EU + National)
10–20%
Early-stage, pilots, non-dilutive
Corporate / Strategic / CVC
10–15%
Strategic fit, late-stage, distribution
Insight: Most healthtech rounds in 2025 involve blended capital: a VC lead, public match-funding, and a strategic partner.
Strategic Takeaways
Founders: Match your capital to your stage. Grants and public co-investments work best pre-revenue or pre-regulatory. Investors: Watch for startups with public funding traction—often a good de-risking signal. Operators: CVCs are gatekeepers to reimbursement and go-to-market. Engage early, but be realistic on timing.
Next up: How the funding mix changed between 2024 and 2025, and what it signals about the future of EU healthtech capital.
Cardio-adjacent robots, workflow expansions, and device commercialization: this week mixes a new fund backing medtech, a fresh CE mark, and EU market-surveillance tidings.
United Founders (Luxembourg) €80M early-stage fund, cheques up to €1M, targeting AI, hardware, dual-use and medtech; early health bet includes Germany’s Every Health. Expect more operator-led tickets into clinical workflows.
Holi (Poland) €3M Seed; digital obesity clinic. New markets in EU on deck; product build around data-driven care pathway.
Nanox (Israel) ↔ EXRAY (Czech Republic) Distribution partnership for Nanox.ARC 3D imaging across Czech Republic; leverages recent EU CE mark to widen footprint. Useful read-through for cost-sensitive imaging buyers in CEE.
On the press
• Nitinotes (Israel) – CE mark for EndoZip, an automated suturing system for endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty; sets up EU commercialization of obesity intervention between drugs and surgery.
• EU #MedSafetyWeek Commission’s health agency Hadea spotlights JAMS 2.0, the joint action strengthening medical device/IVD market surveillance, inspections and data exchange across Member States. Signal: more coordinated enforcement under MDR/IVDR.
• Urteste (Poland) launches European multicenter clinical study of Panuri, an oncology test; another CEE diagnostic attempting EU-wide validation.
One thing to remember
Obesity and imaging drove the week: fresh capital for a Polish digital clinic, a CE-marked automated ESG platform, and a Czech distribution deal show Europe’s buyers want scalable, cost-sensitive interventions. Pair commercialization sprints with the EU’s tighter market-surveillance push to avoid regulatory surprises later.
AI pathology and precision health get fresh fuel; MDR CE marks stack up; MHRA drops safety signals and an IDAP tweak—another week of pilot-to-product momentum.
People on the move
ViCentra (the Netherlands) Ex-Dexcom and Medtronic leaders join to scale Kaleido across Europe; Karen Baxter becomes SVP Sales, Europe; Jay Little becomes VP Strategy & Business Development.
• Lumendi EU MDR CE mark for DiLumen™ EZ¹ and DiLumen™ C¹ endotherapy devices; enables EU commercial distribution.
• Bot Image MDR CE mark for ProstatID® AI prostate MRI software, opening European market access; product is FDA-cleared in the U.S.
• MHRA — October Safety Roundup and Field Safety Notices published; useful for vigilance teams.
• MHRA — IDAP update: UCNA extension for HistoSonics’ EDISON™ ultrasound ablation system; worth tracking alongside EU MDR routes.
One thing to remember
Regulatory momentum matters: CE marks keep landing while the UK fine-tunes access pathways, and capital is returning tohiow focused clinical AI and women’s health sensors. Founders who tie clinical utility to crisp EU/UK access narratives will convert faster to distribution.
What’s scaling, who’s paying, and why you should care
Let’s start with a question. What do Oura, Sword Health, and Doctolib have in common?
If you said “healthtech unicorns” you’re technically right, but that’s not the real answer. The real answer: they’re European, they’re growing like weeds, and most investors or founders still talk about them like they’re niche side projects.
Which is odd. Because these are the companies quietly shaping the future of healthcare on the old continent, while half the market’s still arguing about whether DiGA is dead or just very German.
So, I’ve put together something to help.
This is Mapping the European HealthTech Goldmine. A five-part series for anyone building, backing, or expanding healthtech in Europe.
Why now?
Because the money’s back.
After the hangover that was 2023, last year saw European healthtech bounce to around $4.8 billion in VC funding. This year? $4.3 billion in Q1 alone, and that’s not even counting what gets tucked into medtech, diagnostics, or things with “AI” bolted on just to close a round.
The capital is flowing. But, and this is where it gets interesting, it’s not flowing evenly.
It’s going to:
A handful of markets (Finland? Really? Yes.)
A small set of models (wearables, MSK, diagnostics-as-a-service)
And companies that figured out how to integrate with public health systems without losing their will to live.
What you’ll actually get
No vague “trends”. No breathless “disruption” language, this you have in the name of this website. I offer just five posts that get to the point:
What Europe’s HealthTech Winners Did Differently (Besides surviving long enough to be acquired.)
Who this is for
If you’re a founder, an investor, or someone trying to scale something in European healthcare without losing your shirt — this is for you.
Especially if you’re tired of reading loud headlines about $20M Series A rounds in the US and wondering why your reimbursement pilot takes 18 months and a PowerPoint deck for the bored Ministry officials.
Read it, steal ideas from it, or forward it to your CFO
The first post, the top 10 most valuable healthtech companies in Europe goes live next.
After that, one post a week, give or take. Short reads. Linked data. Unapologetically European perspective.
If that sounds useful, subscribe, bookmark, or just come back with coffee.
