Seer Medical will get a second life after the metech startup’s administrators found three investors willing to back the business with $40 million.
Creditors signed a Deed of Company Arrangement with neurodiagnostic equipment manufacturer Cadwell Industries, existing investor Breakthrough Victoria, and Singapore’s TrialCap in a deal worth $40m.
All three will take an equity position in a new entity set up to control Seer Medical.
The seven-year-old startup’s tech focus is clinical monitoring at home to deal with conditions such as epilepsy diagnostics and management. Its devices checking key physiological signals, such as brain, heart and respiratory function, along with a person’s behaviour in their home environment for signs of impending issues.
The at-home video EEG monitoring system is designed to enable high-quality, long-term studies for epilepsy detection without requiring hospitalisation.
Seer Medical administrator Lindsay Bainbridge, of Pitcher Partners Melbourne, said there had been worldwide interest in the company’s technology.
He said the successful bidder, Cadwell, was a global leader in neurodiagnostics, and the deal represented an excellent outcome for creditors, staff and patients.
“We had teams of medical and clinical representatives fly to Melbourne to be introduced to the Seer Medical staff, receive demonstrations of the products and work with technologists, indicating the strong level of interest in this company,” he said.
“As part of the DOCA, Breakthrough Victoria will see its investment converted to shares in the new company.”
Seer Medical creditors now have until May 16 to prove their debts or claims with Pitcher Partners.
The Victorian government’s $2 billion investment fund Breakthrough Victoria (BV), took a $30 million stake in 2022 and went on to provide additional emergency funding. It was the first failure in BV’s portfolio since its launch in 2021.
Seer, founded in 2017, raised $34 million series A in 2021, backed by Cochlear and impact investor Giant Leap, among others.
But around 18 months of difficulties came to a head in late 2024, with the books handed to Pitcher Partners as voluntary administrators in early January.
The board decision came after major job cuts and a failure to secure additional funding after previously raising more than $80 million.
The business also had a deal with a voluntary recall in 2024 after issues were identified with Quality Management System documentation for its product. It also shut down nearly 20 Seer Medical clinics across Australia.
Prior to the voluntary recall, Seer Medical was live in two-thirds of he top neurology centres in the US. It’s hoping to return to the US market in 2026.
The company and Breakthrough Victoria have been also dealing with an unfair dismissal claim lodged by cofounder and former CEO Dr Dean Freestone.
Cadwell CEO Patrick Jensen said Seer Home, epilepsy detection product, will become part of its neurotechnology portfolio.
“We will be leveraging Seer’s core assets across our other product lines, including Seer’s AI, cloud and web connectivity, and its patient-worn devices and novel consumables,” he said.
“We welcome Seer to the Cadwell family and look forward to using this technology to enable our clinical partners to better help their patients.”
Lindsay Bainbridge said creditors of Seer Medical would receive most or all of their outstanding amounts, either in cash or as shares, and Seer Medical will retain almost all employees.
There are more than 50 million people with epilepsy worldwide, including more than 3 million in the US.
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