PhotonDelta, a cross-border growth accelerator and a hub for photonic chip technology organisations, led the investment, alongside contributions from several private investors. The capital injection will finance the development of devices for clinical trials.

Globally, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality, responsible for 19 million deaths annually. This high rate is partly attributed to the challenges in early and accurate diagnosis, leading to treatment delays. Amazec's innovative approach represents a significant advancement, promising earlier, more precise diagnoses at minimal cost and complexity.

Amazec Photonics is at the forefront of developing user-friendly cardiovascular monitoring tools, a notable departure from current, more invasive, and often less accurate methods. The prevalent method, thermodilution, involves injecting a liquid into the bloodstream and measuring temperature changes downstream with specialised catheters. This method's drawbacks include its unsuitability for routine examinations, inconsistent measurements, insensitivity, and high costs, which can result in delayed or incorrect diagnoses, negatively affecting patient outcomes.

Amazec's photonics-based technology, by contrast, measures temperature changes with an unprecedented precision of 0.0001C, significantly surpassing the current accuracy of 0.01C. Its non-invasive, external monitoring device eliminates the need for catheter insertion, allowing for real-time, multiple measurements that enhance reliability compared to the single measurement approach of existing methods.

Pim Kat, CEO of Amazec Photonics, said: “The number of people suffering from cardiovascular diseases has risen by 93% over the past 25 years and now impacts an estimated 550 million patients worldwide. Many of these people will die or suffer poor health outcomes because the tools we have to diagnose them simply aren’t good enough. Our solution can make a real difference because, not only does it vastly improve the accuracy of testing for cardiovascular disease, it is also much less invasive and simpler to use. This will substantially reduce costs and open the door to many more people being tested much more regularly.

“With this funding round we will be able to build ten prototypes and undertake extensive clinical trials with the intention of producing and selling devices across the EU by 2028.” 

Laurens Weers, CFO of PhotonDelta, said: “Amazec has leveraged the power of photonics to create a device that can make a profound impact on the world. Cardiovascular disease is one of the biggest health challenges we face, and better diagnosis can be the key to saving millions of lives.

“We’re very proud to be a part of Amazec’s journey – we believe it has the capacity to become one of Europe’s most important medtechs and a standard bearer for a new generation of photonics-based technology.”

This investment underscores PhotonDelta's ambition to spearhead a leading photonics industry in the Netherlands, aiming to support 200 startups, foster new applications for photonic chips, and cultivate infrastructure and talent.

Amazec is set to commence clinical trials at Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven this year, with plans to expand to three additional hospitals in 2025. The goal is to start full-scale production and sales across the EU by 2028.