Irish healthtech start-up xWave raises €1.3m in seed funding round

Irish healthtech start-up xWave Technologies has closed a €1.3 million seed round to further commercialise its technology that could help cut hospital waiting lists for critical tests.

The NovaUCD-headquartered company said the oversubscribed round was led by private investors, with Enterprise Ireland contributing €250,000.

Its smart radiology platform, xRefer, helps clinicians decide the most appropriate scan for their patient’s needs using what the company describes as “market leading evidence” and making sure they get the best test first. Referrals can be created and sent quickly from anywhere to any hospital or imaging centre.

By doing so, the system will help eliminate unnecessary radiology scans, cutting down the number of people on waiting lists, delayed diagnoses and adverse outcomes for patients. It can also reduce costs for health authorities.

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“We are delighted to have closed this €1.3 million seed funding round. The data that we have already seen from the use of xRefer in the Irish healthcare system indicates we can potentially eliminate radiology waiting lists in Ireland and abroad by removing unnecessary tests and ensuring that patients get the best test first,” said Mitchell O’Gorman, chief executive of xWave Technologies.

“We already have partnerships in place with two of the largest radiology societies in the world, the European Society of Radiology and the Royal College of Radiologists in the UK. This funding will enable xWave [to] capitalise on commercial opportunities that we now have in the Irish, UK and northern European markets.”

The cloud-based platform is available on iOS, Android and the web. The company claims its use in Irish hospitals has reduced average waiting times taken to create, send and have a referral reviewed by a radiologist by more than 99 per cent. xWave predicts that a national roll-out across the Irish healthcare system would reduce duplicate and unnecessary radiology referrals by more than 60 per cent.

xWave is an Enterprise Ireland high-potential start-up, supported by the HSE Digital Transformation team. It was established in 2020 by a group of Irish radiologists. It is already working on a collaborative research project with CeADAR, Ireland’s Centre for Applied AI based at UCD, to use artificial intelligence and machine learning in developing the next generation of diagnostic referral tools.