Aseptuva: The Venture Leader Medtech leading the fight against hospital infections

11.10.2024 10:30, Rita Longobardi

Meet Eashan Saikia, Co-Founder of Aseptuva. The Medtech startup offers an innovative adaptor customized for different catheters with an in-situ disinfection module to target bacterial colonization near the skin entry site. In November, Eashan and the other nine Swiss National Medtech Team members will fly to Boston on a business development and investor roadshow.

Name: Eashan Saikia
Location: Cambridge, UK 
Nationality: Indian
Graduated from: ETH Zurich
Job title: Co-Founder & CTO
Number of employees: 7
Money raised: CHF 1.3M (equity) + CHF 1.5M (non-dilutive grants)


 
Can you tell us who your product or solution helps, and how?
Our autonomous disinfection devices help critically ill patients in hospitals avoid secondary infections and also alleviate the intense burden of wound management on health workers.

What market are you addressing and what is the potential of your startup in that market?
The US and European healthcare markets for hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) face over USD 35B in annual costs from more than 6 million reported cases. We focus on HAIs related to indwelling catheters, leading to bloodstream infections costing up to USD 46,000 each, amounting to over USD 6B in our target markets. Our solution aims to significantly impact intensive care units, particularly for immunosuppressed patients, representing a market potential of USD 800M.

How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?
Our idea first took birth in 2019 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic via engagement with several intensive care units in Switzerland, which were battling not only COVID-related complications but also witnessed a huge surge in HAI. With my other two Co-Founders, we came together during the Innosuisse Business Concept Course offered by Startup Campus and continued to develop the solution based on real-world feedback from healthcare experts. As the idea matured and received preliminary validation by potential customers, Aseptuva was founded in 2021.

What do you expect from the Venture Leaders Medtech roadshow, and how will it help you achieve your vision?
Aseptuva has initiated contact with the Greater Boston healthcare ecosystem through support from Swissnex Boston and NYC. The Venture Leaders Medtech roadshow will strengthen this engagement and enhance Aseptuva’s credibility in Swiss MedTech while showcasing our innovations to key stakeholders. Additionally, joining the Swiss Startup Team will foster camaraderie with fellow entrepreneurs, helping us learn from their experiences for future challenges.
 
What are your team’s key achievements to date?
Our team has transformed our innovation from a concept to a functional prototype (TRL5), now in preclinical in-vivo studies. Positive feedback from clinicians in Switzerland, the USA, and the UK's NHS has driven our development. Partners like Philips have collaborated with us through grants from Innosuisse, Horizon Europe, NIHR, and Innovate UK. Notably, MedTech investors from our 2022 pre-seed round are reinvesting in our ongoing seed round, demonstrating confidence in our expanding team of 7.

What is the most challenging and rewarding aspect of being a founder?
The most challenging part of being a founder is sacrificing late nights and weekends to meet deadlines. However, the most rewarding aspect is witnessing the impact on patients' lives. We've conducted Patient Public Involvement activities with NHS hospitals in the UK, where patients engaged with our technology. It’s fulfilling to see them understand how to use our devices and express their appreciation for our innovation. I value the flexibility to dictate my schedule and work from anywhere.

What is the most important lesson you have learned as a founder?
As a founder, I have learnt that resilience and creativity are far more valuable qualities compared to talent and high IQ. I realized that with hard work and sincerity very difficult problems can be tackled with grace, but sometimes high IQ is associated with pride and ego that creates rigid barriers.

What is your favourite productivity hack/tool and why?
My productivity hack is to blend work and non-work activities, such as sports, entertainment, and a short afternoon siesta during typical working hours. This way, I can spread my work in smaller chunks throughout the day and into the night without overburdening myself.

What was your dream job when you were a child?
I wanted to be involved with space-related activities, such as a rocket scientist or an astronaut. Alternatively, an ethical hacker would have been a potential option.