A-wave, a Japanese startup developing a cardiac monitoring system, announced on February 17 that it has secured ¥540 million (approximately $3.5 million) in its Series B funding round.
Founded in 2023, the company is developing a system to monitor the hearts of patients suffering from chronic heart failure.
Chronic Heart Failure, for Which No Curative Treatment Has Yet Been Found
Heart failure is not the name of a specific disease, but rather a condition in which the heart’s pumping function declines and it can no longer deliver sufficient blood to the body.
Even if a patient recovers from an episode of heart failure, the heart does not return to its original healthy state, and at present no curative treatment has been established. Heart failure caused by declining cardiac function is classified into stages A through D, beginning with Stage A, which represents the highest-risk but asymptomatic condition, followed by Stages B, C, and D. In general, Stage C and beyond—where symptoms become apparent—are regarded as chronic heart failure.
According to A-wave, 40 percent of patients with chronic heart failure are readmitted to hospital within one year of discharge. In other words, once a patient develops chronic heart failure, repeated transitions between home-based care and hospitalization often become unavoidable. Given the absence of a curative treatment, preventing recurrent hospital admissions depends largely on whether deterioration in a patient’s condition can be detected at an early stage through cardiac monitoring.
This constitutes the background behind A-wave’s development of its cardiac monitoring system. While the above information is described on the Products page of the company’s website, the product itself is not yet publicly presented, suggesting that it remains under development.
A-wave states that if its product were able to reduce hospital readmissions among chronic heart failure patients by 20 percent, this could translate into ¥48 billion (approximately $313 million) in annual healthcare cost savings in Japan.
Participation by Shimadzu’s CVC and Others
A-wave has named eight investors that participated in its Series B round. Among them, two are operating companies rather than purely financial investors: the corporate venture capital arm of Shimadzu and GigaSystem, a Japanese developer of medical IT systems.
The funds will be used to advance efforts toward commercialization.
Hirotada Masuda, President and CEO of A-wave, commented:
“In light of the social challenges posed by chronic heart failure, we have been developing medical devices and have now reached the stage of conducting clinical trials. Leveraging this latest round of funding, we will continue refining and validating our technology, working as one team to contribute to patients with heart failure in Japan and around the world.”
