Ostoform, a Dublin-based medical devices startup, has raised €1.1m from angel investors and Enterprise Ireland.

The Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN) contributed €280,000 in the funding round, which also included EI and VC firm SOSV, founded by Sean O’Sullivan.

Ostoform was established in 2016 in the University of Limerick by Kevin Kelleher and Rhona Hunt. It has developed a seal that is placed around a ‘stoma’, or small surgical opening on the abdomen that is used to divert waste flow from inside the body.

The Ostoform seal helps prevent skin irritation and damage from this fluid outflow, a condition that can affect individuals using colostomy bags, for example.

The firm will use the €1.1m investment to expand its team by five, as well as fund patient trials and regulatory approval to commercialise its stoma seal in the US and Europe.

In Association with

Enterprise Ireland previously invested €50,000 in Ostoform, which won the 2017 AIB Startup Academy competition.

CEO Kevin Kelleher said that the investment is not just a financial one. “The angel investors bring invaluable expertise and experience that will help us to scale,” he added.

“We now have business people involved who have already gone through the process of patient trials with the FDA in the US and the CE Mark certificate in Europe. That will be instrumental in helping us to avoid pitfalls along the way.”

Photo: Ostoform co-founder Kevin Kelleher (centre), with HBAN’s Declan Quinn and Sarah Cagney