The BSC 'spin-off' FrontWave Imaging raises 750,000 euros in its first round

FrontWave Imaging has developed supercomputing software that allows for the diagnosis of breast cancer from data obtained with ultrasounds, offering a safe and painless alternative to mammograms. This spin-off of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC) and Imperial College London has just closed its first round of financing on Capital Cell. The company has managed to raise 750,000 euros, exceeding its initial goal, and did so in less than a week.

The resources obtained through the equity crowdfunding platform will be used to finalize the software definition and obtain clinical validation, conducting the first trials at Vall d'Hebron Hospital. In parallel, the emerging company is working on its first prototype, with the idea of entering the market by 2023, once all necessary certifications have been obtained.

The startup proposes a SaaS (Software as a Service) business model that allows any hospital with the appropriate machinery to use the software it has designed. Driven in 2020 by Josep de la Puente, Lluís Guash, and Óscar Calderón and with the support of 101 Ventures, FrontWave Imaging currently has a staff of 13 employees.

Unlike mammograms, which use X-rays, this company's proposal uses ultrasounds to generate high-resolution images, extracting all possible information through supercomputing. In addition, it provides more reliable images in patients with dense breasts, who are usually at high risk, and allows for routine scans when women are younger, as it does not use ionizing radiation.

This is one of the ten spin-offs that have emerged from the BSC in the last six years. The research and technology generated in the supercomputer have allowed for the creation of more than 100 jobs and the raising of four million euros. In addition to FrontWave Imaging, there are Elem, Energy Aware System, Maspa Technologies, Mitiga, Nearby Computing, Nextmol, Nostrum Biodiscovery, QBeast, and Qilimanjaro.