Million exit from Hemovent

The start-up from Aachen develops devices for intensive care medicine, including a mobile ECMO device. Now a company from Shanghai has acquired the start-up Hemovent for 123 million euros.

ECMO devices, which take over the body's functions in the event of cardiopulmonary failure, have been around since the coronavirus pandemic. The smallest portable of these devices, called Mobybox, was developed by the start-up Hemovent. The Aachen-based company has now been sold to the medical device company Microport from Shanghai. The takeover cost the Chinese company up to 123 million euros.

"We are very pleased with our new partner MicroPort. We are looking forward to significantly expanding our business activities at our current location in Aachen as well as expanding our international activities and sales chains," says Christof Lenz, who heads Hemovent. Founded in 2013, the start-up develops various devices in the ECMO sector, which stands for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation. So far, the mobile version of Hemovent's heart-lung machine has only been approved in Europe.

In China, the start-up expects 100,000 applications per million inhabitants, a promising market. This is also where the buyer MicroPort Surgical BV, a subsidiary of MicroPort Scientific Corporation, is based. The takeover is primarily strategically motivated: "The European triangle of R&D and production centers in France, Italy and Germany is a long-term strategic layout for MicroPort to develop the European market," explains Chengyun Yue, Head of MicroPort Surgery. And tells what plans he has with Hemovent: "After the transaction is completed, MicroPort will focus on strengthening its technology innovation capability and large-scale industrialization capacity in Germany, and leverage the synergy of global innovation resources."

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, pending full approvals.

Hemovent's largest shareholder is the venture capitalist MIG Capital, which has taken Biontech and NFON, among others, public. It was also responsible for the sale of Siltectra to Infineon for 124 million euros. Two MIG Capital funds own 27 percent of Hemovent, "We are very proud that we were able to be an important partner in this success story as lead investor. At the same time, the timing for the sale to a strategic partner is ideal. As part of a global medical technology group, Hemovent can take its business model and the commercialization of its devices to a new level in the future," comments Matthias Guth, Partner at MIG Capital, on the exit.