Whilst working in the field, Rask uncovered an issue in the industry. He explained that one of the biggest problems in healthcare today is arrhythmias [irregular heartbeats]. Whilst it’s not too complicated to treat many arrhythmias, diagnosing them can be, as they can come and go. “Most of the time when a patient has an irregularity in their heart, it can cause a variety of symptoms, like palpitations, fainting, or even strokes. But the problem is, when they go to their GP or the hospital, the irregularity is gone.”

Having identified this issue, Rask thought there must be a better solution out there. “What you need to do is to record a long-term electrocardiogram (ECG), as you need to record the arrhythmia while it's happening. I was working with recording long-term ECGs of many in children and young adults outside the hospital, but the equipment we were using wasn't that good.”

Rask didn’t set out with the intention of starting a company, but with a mission to improve the technology for patients. “My intention from the start was actually not to found a company, I just wanted to buy better devices for patients. However, I looked around and there weren't any. And then I did some clinical rotations in Germany, the US, and Japan, and we all had the same problem.

“So, I thought, how hard can it be to build something better? And turns out, it was really hard.”

MedBeat

MedBeat’s physical product is a small ECG device that can be attached directly to a patient’s chest with three single use electrodes. The device weighs around 50g, is palm sized, and can be used by a wide variety of patients.

However, first and foremost, MedBeat is a healthcare provider. “A lot of people think of us as a hardware manufacturer, and we do manufacture medical devices. However, we are also a clinic, and we handle everything related to arrhythmia diagnosis.”

Traditional diagnosis methods can be faulty, as patients are usually only monitored for 24 hours, and the device used is often bulky with a bunch of cables. This is not even mentioning how long the wait times can be before a patient is able to be monitored.

“We built this hardware which is basically unlocking our service,” Rask explained.

“Since it is so easy to use, it can be used in primary healthcare, so your GP can put it on. You walk out of the clinic already being monitored, and you wear it for a much longer period of time, up to weeks instead of a day. Further, the device is waterproof, you can do sports with it, you can even swim with it. It's really practical.

“After recording you send it back to us via a courier. We get the device back and are able to diagnose the data quickly.”

Compared to traditional methods, MedBeat is fast, and this can make a lot of difference to people’s lives. “We reduce the time to diagnosis from around half a year to 10 days, which is really important for patients and for doctors.”

When it comes to the diagnosis, MedBeat has it all covered: “We handle the logistics, the hardware, the software, and we employ the doctors and analysts who look at the ECG data and they provide both diagnosis and a recommendation.”

From doctor to founder

“[Our mission] is to save lives,” Rask stressed.

Having previously worked within a hospital and seeing the impact that he had, Rask has definitely had some moral dilemmas transitioning into the world of being a founder. “It wasn’t easy quitting my job at the hospital and starting a startup. I wanted to help people and treat patients, and when you’re in the hospital, you can very directly see the change you’re making.”

However, creating MedBeat has meant that in the future, the impact the innovation is having will be more visible. When I interviewed Rask, there were 100 patients wearing the device at that one time, showing the impact that the startup is already making.

The challenges and highlights

Building hardware is very hard. The first prototype of the product was built by Rask in his spare time, which he admitted wasn’t great, but lead to the device MedBeat is now centred around.

“One of the big challenges is the long time it takes, especially when it comes to regulatory approval, since this is not only hardware, but a medical device. The regulatory approval process in the EU and the UK is much, much longer than if I just wanted to build a robot lawn mower or something like that.” These long lead times mean that Rask and the MedBeat team have needed a lot of patience to be able to bring their offering to the public.

Working in the medical device space also comes with funding challenges. Of course, this is not unusual for startups. However, startups within the medtech industry can have a tough time raising funds. Rask explained the experience: “Most investors, if they don’t have a very strategic eye on medical devices in particular, they would ask what our revenue is. When we started out, we would say ‘in three years we will be able to put it on our first patient.’ Most investors would just finish the meeting right there.”

The long lead times in medtech mean that startups may not see any revenue for years, making the funding process more difficult.

Whilst there are always challenges, there are the highlights that make the journey worth it. “To see the silver lining here, once you’re through all the steps, once you’ve got investment, once you wrangle yourself through all the regulatory processes, then it’s quite nice because there is a lot of good to be done.”

A lot of the highlights that Rask discussed relate to the impact that the startup is already having on patients.

Rask’s biggest highlight was securing the first patients, which came after four years of development. “We try to visualise a lot of what we’re doing, because we’re sitting inside an office and handling reports, but there are human stories behind these reports. We have a TV in our office where we show statistics like how many cases we’ve diagnosed this year, and how many lives we’ve saved. That brings a lot of satisfaction to my job and keeps me motivated.”

There are other small milestones along the journey too. One of these has been moving production of the device to Sweden, where the startup is based.

Looking to the future

In a huge feat, 2024 saw MedBeat 10x its revenue, and quadruple the size of its team. “I’m not sure if we can match this number this year, but we hope so,” commented Rask.

This year, MedBeat’s biggest goal is to expand the business internationally, and become a recognisable name within the space. Becoming a trusted name in the medtech industry can be difficult, as the medical sector is slow moving, and can be resistant to adopting new technologies. Highlighting its technology and the impact MedBeat is already having will be key in driving further adoption, especially internationally.

When it comes to the product itself, MedBeat is looking to expand its predictive capabilities. Rask discussed: “We already have AI models that not only diagnose, but predict arrhythmias.” By wearing the device for a week, a patient can be monitored for the presence of an arrhythmia in real time, and software can also identify individuals who may be more at risk of developing a condition like atrial fibrillation in the future. Prediction within medicine can make a huge difference to someone’s quality of life, and in the words of Rask, “prevention is not only better for the patient but also cheaper for the society than treatment.”

Looking to the possibilities of MedBeat, there is temptation to broaden the focus. As Rask explained, “we see a lot of things that can be fixed.” However, a key point for startups is staying focused, so for the time being, the MedBeat team are committed to their current mission and improving the technology. If they continue on this track, they will improve the lives of millions of people.

This article originally appeared in the May/June 2025 issue of Startups Magazine. Click here to subscribe