The start-up Nahtlos, which is headquartered at Switzerland Innovation Park Ost (SIP Ost) in St.Gallen, has raised a total of 1 million Swiss francs after successfully closing a seed financing round. With this fresh capital from investor networks in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, in addition to the Startfeld Foundation, the Empa spin-off will seek to advance the market launch of its newly developed electrode for medical applications, further details of which can be found in a press release.
Over the past two years, Nahtlos has brought textile-based electrodes to market maturity that had previously been developed and patented in various projects at Empa. The development of the technology was funded by Innosuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency, among other organizations. It allows the electrodes to be worn for weeks without causing any damage to the skin, for example to record heart activity or stimulate the muscles of paralyzed patients.
According to the press release, the fabric-encased electrode represents the first alternative to gel electrodes. These have been the medical standard ever since they were first developed 60 years ago.
When setting up their company, the founders Michel Schmid and José Näf were supported by Startfeld, the start-up promotion arm of SIP Ost, in the form of coaching, consulting and early-stage financing. The patent for the textile-based electrode technology is now owned by Nahtlos.
