Procope Medicals is developing a next-gen artificial heart

The startup created in Nantes in 2018 invented an innovative heart prosthesis. Procope Medicals is preparing to fundraise €300,000 and the first tests will be carried out on animals by 2024.

Four million people worldwide suffer from severe heart failure, and 100,000 need an artificial heart. Currently, two models are available: one from the French company Carmat and one conceived by the American firm Syncardia. Both work with an external power supply using a percutaneous cable (which passes through the skin).

The integral cardiac prosthesis invented by Procope Medicals is lighter than the existing solutions, when Carmat’s artificial heart weighs the double of the human heart, and the pumping system produces a part of the energy it needs. Above all, the artificial heart includes a battery inside which can be charged through the skin and therefore does not require any cable passing through the skin, which avoids many complications.

€300,000 fundraising

Procope Medicals was founded by three entrepreneurs who are not healthcare experts but have a solid professional background. The marketer Stéphanie Gouraud runs the company and she is backed by the mechanics specialists Saïd Chabane (director of Fluide méca) and Samuel Plumejault (CEO of ATI Solutions).

The company is currently beginning to fundraise €300,000. Procope Medicals will launch recruitments to continue the R&D and work on the legal issues. The startup works with the Institut du thorax, a research unit of Université de Nantes, and the Institute of Materials Jean Rouxel. 

10 years before go-to-market

Procope Medicals will test its artificial heart on animals in 2024 with the participation of Oniris. The company plans to solicit public subsidies and to do several fundraising operations to develop and launch its product. The objective is to market the artificial heart within 10 years.