Artiria Medical: Meet the Venture Leader Medtech enabling a new standard of care to fight stroke

19.09.2023 08:00, Rita Longobardi

Meet Guillaume Petit-Pierre, CEO of Artiria Medical. The Vaud-based startup is on a mission to transform the field of neurovascular healthcare through innovative minimally invasive medical technologies.

Name: Guillaume Petit-Pierre
Location: Borex, Vaud
Nationality: Swiss
Graduated from: EPFL
Job title: CEO
Number of employees: 7 FTE
Money raised: CHF 7 M +
First touchpoint with Venturelab: Venture Leaders Life Sciences 2018

 

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Can you tell us who your product or solution helps, and how?
Artiria is shaping the future of healthcare, aiming to help the 15 million people affected by stroke. Our first product, an innovative FDA-approved wire with a micro-articulated seeking head, dramatically improves navigation through cerebral vessels to treat stroke patients. Existing interventional devices lack control, leading to complications, increased costs, and longer surgical procedures. Artiria's disruptive technology enhances accuracy, reduces risks, and ultimately improves patient outcomes.

What market are you addressing and what is the potential of your startup in that market? 
We address the neuroendovascular market, an outstanding USD 2.8 B opportunity. This rapidly growing and dynamic environment now favours interventional, minimally invasive methods over traditional "open brain" surgeries. In this segment, Artiria is ideally positioned to assist the 270,000 patients undergoing endovascular surgery for stroke each year.

How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?
The idea was born in 2018, during a neuroendovascular procedure attended by the founder team (Marc Boers – COO, and I). It quickly became clear that existing instruments were consistently retrieved from patients and manually shaped during the stroke procedure, leading to a sense of unpredictability and risk. Identifying this medical need was the birth of Artiria!

What do you expect from the Venture Leaders Medtech roadshow, and how will it help you achieve your vision?
Being exposed to US Medtech investors is very encouraging as this could open the door to a great collaboration with Artiria. The Medtech network in the Boston Area is a very rich ecosystem, and we are eager to establish new connections including with the US Stroke centres at this occasion. I’m very much looking forward to coming back to Switzerland with this American mindset that “everything is possible”.
 

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What are your team’s key achievements to date?
To accomplish the remarkable success of bringing our first product from a proof-of-concept to an FDA-approved stage in under 3.5 years! This tells you about the passion and exceptional skills of our team.

What is the most challenging and rewarding aspect of being a founder?
Being a founder is a lot about learning new things at an extremely fast pace while constantly facing difficult problems and situations. In this context, the most challenging aspect is certainly about defining the right priorities and tackling the right problem at the right time. And the most rewarding aspect is looking back and witnessing the creation and accomplishments made possible by our dedicated team.

What is the most important lesson you have learned as a founder?
It's better not to be a founder but rather a co-founder; together, the adventure is more beautiful!

What is your favourite productivity hack/tool and why?
Frankly, I don’t have any hacks at all, I only rely on the good old “Post-it” to write my to-do list! 

What was your dream job when you were a child?
As a child, my dream job was to become a pilot, and I did achieve it! I hold a private pilot license and fly various types of small aircraft. Recently, I completed my paragliding training. I absolutely love flying.
 

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ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The Venture Leaders Medtech 2023 were chosen from over 80 applications by an expert jury. The roadshow in Boston provides a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs to accelerate their startups' expansion in the US while expanding their professional network and profiting from workshops with investors and industry leaders. This year's Venture Leaders Medtech program is organized by Venturelab in collaboration with Swissnex Boston and is supported by EPFL Lausanne, ETH Zurich, Hansjörg Wyss, Kellerhals Carrard, Swissnex Boston, and the Canton of Vaud.