French start-up HypnoVR secures €1.7 million in funding

French start-up HypnoVR, secures €1.7 million in funding to accelerate the development of its pain and anxiety treatment solution combining virtual reality and medical hypnosis.

HypnoVR, a medical device with clinically proven effectiveness in the treatment of pain and anxiety.

An innovative non-drug alternative with many indications including anaesthesia, surgery, dental care and chronic pain.

Strasbourg, France, 4 June 2020 – HypnoVR, a start-up founded by two anaesthetists and a new technology expert, has secured €1.7 million in funding to accelerate the development of its pain and anxiety treatment solution combining medical hypnosis techniques with virtual reality headset technology.

Acquired over the last few months, this mixed financing combines a capital increase, bank support and public funding that directly enhances HypnoVR’s innovation and research and development.

The capital increase was carried out with the historical investors, in particular Guillaume Richard, founder and CEO of OuiCare (French leader in personal services) and the Family Office of Daniel Caille, founder and CEO of Vivalto Santé (third largest player in the private hospital sector in France) as well as new individual investors and the three founders.

Winner of the “I-Nov” national innovation competition in the “Health – Surgery of the Future” category and of the “Digital Economy Call for Expressions of Interest”, HypnoVR has received financial support (in the form of a grant and a repayable advance) of nearly 500,000 euros from the Programme d’Investissement d’avenir (PAI) and the Grand Est Region. The funds will be allocated to improve the therapeutic effectiveness of the HypnoVR device. With this funding HypnoVR aims to reach an important milestone in the scientific, technological and commercial development of its innovative medical device.

HypnoVR, an innovative solution for healthcare professionals, used throughout the care process in public and private hospitals and medical practices By immersing the patient in a calm and relaxing 3D universe, accompanied by hypnotic speech and music therapy, and combining breathing exercises, the HypnoVR device allows a significant reduction of acute pain and anxiety during a medical procedure, during surgery or in any anxiety-provoking context.

Also exploited for its long-lasting analgesic and anxiolytic properties (several hours after the session), the HypnoVR device is administered in the manner of a digital drug or “digicament”.

HypnoVR’s ease of use and personalised treatment allow it to be used in many therapeutic areas including anaesthesia, surgery, dental care, oncology, imaging, etc.

HypnoVR is accessible via a wide range of virtual reality headsets and also allows practitioners to follow the progress of the session directly from their smartphone or a dedicated tablet.

HypnoVR, a French leader in clinical research in therapeutic virtual reality. Thanks to collaborations with health establishments and research laboratories, HypnoVR now has nine clinical studies presented highlighting its numerous benefits in various specialities and indications, including paediatric surgery, dental surgery, gynaecology, anaesthesia and urology.

As a complement to local or loco-regional anaesthesia, HypnoVR thus offers a real alternative to chemical sedatives, eliminating side effects and shortening the length of the hospital stay (length of stay ÷3 in paediatric surgery*).

Before a procedure HypnoVR is used to treat pre-operative stress and anxiety (45% reduction in stress before a procedure*) and after an operation it allows patients to relax in the recovery room or in the hospital room, having a direct impact on the consumption of morphine (up to 45%*) and anxiolytics (up to 50%*)

Part of the secured funding will be allocated to the implementation of new clinical studies and the development of new solutions for the management of acute pain, chronic pain and anxiety.

HypnoVR is already present in more than a hundred health institutions in France, Switzerland and Belgium thanks to its own sales team. HypnoVR is committed to working with major private and public players in the health sector to make its innovation accessible to as many people as possible.. HypnoVR is distributed by two public purchasing centres: UniHA (the leading public hospital group purchasing network) and UGAP (a grouping of two French government purchasing services), as well as three private referral centres: Helpevia, CAHPP, and the Elsan Group.

In parallel, HypnoVR signed two major strategic partnerships at the end of 2019 with the Vivalto Santé group and the Pierre Fabre Oral Care laboratory, the leader in oral hygiene in France.

“We are grateful and proud to be able to count on the support of our shareholders, public institutions, partners and customers in the HypnoVR adventure,” says Nicolas Schaettel, president and co-founder of HypnoVR. “Thanks to them and the 14 HypnoVR collaborators, thousands of patients have benefited from HypnoVR’s innovation over the past 2 years to better manage their pain and anxiety. This funding will allow us to continue to make HypnoVR even more effective and available even more widely, in many therapeutic areas, locations of use and geographical territories.”

“The solutions developed by HypnoVR are a valuable addition to the therapeutic arsenal of my practice as an anaesthetist,” says Dr. Denis Graff, co-founder of HypnoVR. “Faced daily with the side effects of anaesthetic and analgesic drugs, I appreciate having an effective non-medicinal solution for managing the stress of even the most anxious patients and managing pain without complications. HypnoVR puts the patient back at the centre of the care pathway, offering them the experience of a multi-sensory immersion in a bubble of comfort and serenity rather than the anxiety-provoking environment of the operating theatre.”

About HypnoVR

HypnoVR is a company specialising in the development of medical hypnosis solutions combined with virtual reality for the treatment of pain, stress and anxiety management. HypnoVR designs, develops and markets software applications and medical devices that constitute innovative hypnosedation tools by making the benefits of medical hypnosis accessible to the greatest number.

Contact HypnoVR :
Nicolas SCHAETTEL
Co-founder & President
Tél : +33 (0)6 09 36 05 97
Email : ns@hypnovr.io