People who have chronic kidney disease or are at risk for heart failure are greatly affected by potassium imbalances in their bodies. This can even be life-threatening. Wearable blood glucose meters are now commonplace and have transformed the lives of people with diabetes, but measuring potassium is still in its infancy and difficult to perform. Now, startups are emerging to solve this problem.
Proton Intelligence is a Canada-based startup developing continuous potassium monitoring products. A $6.95 million seed funding round led by SOSV has now closed in the Bay Area. The product is undergoing clinical trials with the goal of launching in 2025.
Proton is developing a small device that is inserted just under the skin to monitor potassium levels. It connects to a smartphone app so patients can monitor their potassium levels and receive notifications if their levels fall outside safe ranges due to lifestyle choices such as diet or medications.
A clinician dashboard provides a view of a patient’s potassium trends and allows care teams to use the data to fine-tune treatment. In-hospital potassium testing is drastically reduced, saving a lot of time and money.
The company was co-founded by CEO Sahan Ranamukhaarachchi (Vancouver, Canada) and CSO Victor Cadarso (Melbourne).
The two founded a startup 10 years ago while working as wearable biosensor researchers in Switzerland. Ranamukhaarachchi went on to found a skin-based drug delivery startup (Microdermics), while Cadarso became Professor of Micro and Nanosensors at Monash University in Melbourne. Proton therefore has a commercially focused headquarters in Canada and a wholly owned R&D focused subsidiary in Melbourne, Australia.
Ranamukhaarachchi told TechCrunch that the team conducted more than 100 in-depth interviews with treatment teams to research the product. “These results highlight the devastating consequences of ‘flying blind’ when managing potassium levels, as delays in monitoring often lead to preventable hospitalizations, treatment interruptions or treatment interruptions, including sudden cardiac death.” said.
He described how patients told him that “the constant fear of a potassium imbalance, questions about eating one banana or missing a blood test” could affect their health or even put their lives at risk.
The problem is clearly very real. Approximately 10% of the world’s population suffers from chronic kidney disease, and millions of people die each year due to lack of affordable treatment.
Proton competes with several other emerging companies in the sector.
AliveCor estimates potassium levels indirectly by detecting heart activity (it has raised $154.3 million to date). Alio ($46 million raised) performs potassium monitoring in dialysis patients. Spain’s Renalyse measures potassium in fingerstick blood samples, costing €1 million. Of course, there are many more.
That said, Proton’s founders claim that this solution will become even more scalable. “There is currently no other technology that offers this level of utility, accuracy and clinical impact,” Ranamukhaarachchi said.
“We are proud to be the first institutional investor in Proton Intelligence… and excited to continue to support them as they move into clinical validation,” said Mohan S. lyer, general partner at SOSV, in a statement.
Also investing in this Seed round are We Venture Capital, Tenmile, LongeVC, 15th Rock, Exor, and Trampoline Venture Partners.
