Rowan Armstrong with Niki McKenzie

Scottish technology firm Bioliberty has secured £2.2 million to develop a unique soft robotic glove which can restore upper limb mobility in patients following a stroke.

The funding round was led by Archangels with participation from Eos Advisory, Old College Capital and Hanna Capital SEZC.

The Edinburgh-based business has created the Lifeglov – a soft robotic glove which offers rehabilitation for both the closing and opening strength of the hand. The glove monitors key metrics related to upper limb mobility and can show improvement as the patient progresses through their rehab.

The new funding will allow Bioliberty to complete development of the trial product and finalise the development of its platform. The funding is also anticipated to fund the business through obtaining FDA approval and early commercial engagement in the US with rehabilitation clinics.

In the US alone, there are more than 800,000 strokes every year, with 88% of patients left with upper limb weakness. At the same time, there is an urgent need for at-home occupational therapy services, with demand for such services forecast to outpace the supply within all 50 states of the US by 2030.

The business was co-founded in 2020 by CEO Rowan Armstrong alongside Conan Bradley (chief design), Ross O’Hanlon (CTO) and Shea Quinn (COO) and currently employs a team of seven.

Mr Armstrong said: “We’re confident in our technology and excited by the benefits it can deliver for both patients and occupational therapists.”

Niki McKenzie, joint managing director at Archangels, said: “Archangels is excited to be supporting the team as they finalise what we hope will be the first of many products and start scaling up their sales activity.”