Major Investors – GAP Funds, Ted Leonsis, TiE DC and Boston Chapters
OxiWear announced it successfully closed a pre-seed funding round at $1.25M, oversubscribed above its goal of $750,000. OxiWear is a medtech and sportstech startup company developing an ear-wearable pulse oximeter for 24-hour, continuous oxygen monitoring, and low-oxygen alerting.
GAP Funds, an investment program of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC), formerly CIT, led the pre-seed round, while OxiWear received re-investments from previous supporters, Ted Leonsis and The Paul & Rose Carter Foundation. In addition, Paul Caicedo, Future Communities Capital, Gaingels, Halcyon Fund, Hourglass Venture Partners, TiE DC and Boston Chapters, and Tysons Angel Group funded this round and joined the OxiWear family.
“I’ve been a proud, early supporter of Shavini and her life-saving work and I congratulate her on not only meeting her pre-seed funding round target – but decisively beating it,” said Ted Leonsis, a global business leader in the technology, sports and entertainment business industries. “It’s a testament to how in-demand her product is and how smartly she has built her company around it. I expect she will only continue to grow, and I happily stand by her to offer advice whenever she needs it.”
Founded in 2019, OxiWear is developing an ear-wearable device providing continuous oxygen monitoring. The ear is one of the most accurate places to measure oxygen saturation levels (SPO2) and to detect when oxygen levels begin to drop. Performance athletes, high-altitude travelers, and patients prone to silent hypoxia can feel confident that OxiWear will provide accurate and reliable oxygen monitoring.
“OxiWear is a product that I developed to help patients like me – those living with pulmonary hypertension,” stated Shavini Fernando, founder and CEO of OxiWear. “Through our research, we learned that there is a larger market for oxygen monitoring including elite athletes, high-altitude travelers, and patients with diseases such as COPD, sleep apnea, and Covid-19.”
OxiWear offers non-intrusive, continuous oxygen monitoring (as opposed to batch data or spot readings) and can be worn 24-hours a day, without obstructing daily activities.
Tom Weithman, VIPC Managing Director of GAP Funds, said, “OxiWear is a game changer for those affected by the complications of pulmonary hypertension, and could be the difference between safety and danger.”
This funding will allow OxiWear to finalize its go-to-market product development and initiate beta testing to release its consumer device by mid-year 2022. The company is completing its pre-submission meetings with the FDA for its medical device designation and is currently participating in the leAD Sports & Health Tech accelerator program.
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