OxiWear has impressed physicians and doctors alike with a solution to an enduring problem.
More development work and clinical testing is on the way, but the company is now zooming toward commercialization of its flagship device: an ear-wearable pulse oximeter for continuous oxygen monitoring.
The idea is based on the experience of Arlington, Virginia-based founder and CEO Shavini Fernando, who has a rare condition that results in pulmonary hypertension. Long story short: She needs a non-obtrusive device that continuously monitors her oxygen levels.
OxiWear recently closed a $1.25 million pre-seed round from notable investors such as Ted Leonsis, the business mogul who owns the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals professional sports teams. Future Communities Capital – which has invested in Buffalo-based startups HELIXintel and Ognomy – participated as well.
The story comes around to Western New York by way of Buffalo resident George Beckstein, who is the company’s chief technology officer. Beckstein has experience working at startups in Buffalo after previous employment at Heads Up Display and SomaDetect.
Now he gets a chance to build an engineering team in his hometown as OxiWear prepares for clinical trials at the UCSF Hypoxia Research Laboratory in San Francisco.
“It’s nerve-wracking, but it’s very exciting because I get to build the team I’ve always dreamed of building, and I get to do it in Buffalo,” Beckstein said.
The issue has personal resonance for Beckstein as well — his father relies on a continuous glucose monitor.
“That technology doesn’t really exist for patients with pulmonary hypertension and lung diseases,” Beckstein said. “It’s mostly spot checks with your finger pulse, but there’s nothing that has been engineered to continuously wear 24/7.”
OxiWear has a layered go-to-market strategy. With Leonsis as a key supporter, it plans to test OxiWear on high-performance athletes in professional and extreme sports. Medical patients will be able to buy the devices as soon as they’re commercialized, but doctors won’t be able to prescribe them until they are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
OxiWear is working on its pre-submission application with the FDA now and is hoping for full approval in early 2023. Interest appears strong even without the prescriptions.
“We already have more than 1,000 pre-order sign-ups, and that is without FDA approval or any marketing,” Fernando said.
Most of them, she said, are medical patients.
OxiWear will remain officially headquartered in Arlington – Fernando has committed to that through state investments, and also she needs to stay close to The Johns Hopkins Hospital. The company’s team is currently distributed and its engineering will be sited in Buffalo, when possible.
OxiWear is among 29 companies with local connections to acknowledge growth-oriented financing this year. The others include Jerry ($103 million), Squire ($60 million), Centivo ($51 million), Tackle.io ($35 million), Torch Labs ($25 million), CleanFiber ($11.9 million), Circuit Clinical ($7.5 million), Kangarootime ($6 million), SomaDetect ($6 million), Kickfurther ($5.9 million), HELIXintel ($1.6 million), Joblio ($4 million), Verivend ($2.5 million) Ognomy ($1.37 million), Patient Pattern ($1.2 million), Ellicottville Greens ($1 million), Immersed Games ($540,000), Braid Babes ($415,000), MemoryFox ($380,000), Zizo Technologies ($200,000), Thimble ($165,000), AirExpert ($100,000), Immunaeon ($100,000), Oro Sports ($100,000), Real Talk ($100,000), Alo ($100,000), HiOperator (undisclosed) and Classavo (undisclosed).
