Josep de la Puente, researcher at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, and Lluís Guasch and Òscar Calderón, from Imperial College London, are three geophysicists who were studying how to prospect in the ground with ultrasound, that is, without the need to drill. The three scientists met at a conference where they had the opportunity to create a startup that would put their knowledge at the service of people's health. After a few months studying the business viability of the project together with the Farside business factory and its investment vehicle 101 Ventures, the emerging company FrontWave Imaging was born at the end of 2020.
Founded by the three researchers and Susana Castel and Rafael García, experts in the more business field, FrontWave has created software (called UBIware) that uses supercomputing, ultrasound data and advanced algorithms to provide high-resolution images of the breast. The developed technology, which has already begun the procedures to be clinically validated at the Vall d'Hebron hospital in Barcelona, allows improving diagnosis and reducing mortality rates thanks to the detection of false negatives and false positives of current diagnostic techniques. per image.
Based in the Barcelona Health Hub and a team of seven people, FrontWave Imaging has required an investment of more than two million euros. The company is now seeking 600,000 euros in financing to complete clinical validation and begin processing European, North American and Chinese patents. But it won't be enough. “To reach the market, which we predict will be at the end of 2025, we estimate that we will need two million more euros,” says Susana Castel, who serves as executive director of the startup.
FrontWave Imaging is a spin-off of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and Imperial College London and is supported by 101 Venturas.
