New system for measuring strabismus
The Institut Català de Finances and Business Angels Network Catalunya invest in BCN Innova Technological Evolution. The device is already working in the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu of Barcelona.
By Biocat
The Institut Català de Finances (ICF) has granted a participative loan of €150,000 to the company BCN Innova Technological Evolution devoted to research on technological solutions based on artificial vision. Recently, BCN Innova patented an innovative system for measuring strabismus (deviation of one eye with respect to the other) which, by means of a helmet, films the movement of the retina and the eyelids. In this way, a very precise map is obtained of the ocular deviation that permits significantly improving the effectiveness of the surgical interventions in order to correct the strabismus, especially in the case of children. The project is coordinated by Dr. Joan Prat, head of the Ophthalmology Department of the Paediatric Hospital of Sant Joan de Déu of Barcelona. Strabismus affects around 240 million persons (4% of the world population).
It is the third investment that the ICF has formalized in the framework of its co-investment line with Catalan business angels (in 2011 it signed a collaboration agreement with 12 networks of business angels to capitalize new Catalan companies or those in the initial phase of development). In this case, the contribution of private capital has been organized through the Business Angels Network Catalunya (BANC).
The participative loans that the ICF grants, through its subsidiary IFEM (Instruments Financers per a Empreses Innovadores, SLU), have a maximum period of five years and can include a grace period of up to two years. The other two co-investment initiatives that have been financed up to now are Vistamax (with the network Keiretsu) and Wineissocial (with Esade BAN). The total capital committed with this line is €10 million between 2011 and 2015.