StemSight: replacing what’s lost

“Our story is a testament to the fact that anyone can build their own inventions,” says Laura Koivusalo, CEO and co-founder of StemSight.

Tampere-based StemSight is tackling corneal blindness, aiming to give people the power to see again. StemSight’s final product resembles a contact lens, made from a functional biomaterial. The lens-like material contains millions of cells designed to replace those lost on the surface of the eye. These cells are derived from iPS cells, which are originally obtained from a healthy individual and then reprogrammed in the lab to produce any cell type in the human body.

BREAKING NEW GROUND

Founded by four women with extensive expertise in the field, StemSight emerged from a research group at Tampere University. Laura joined this research group in 2015, drawn in by the academic freedom it offered. “They wanted me to solve a problem, and they didn’t care how – it was very liberating,” she explains. Her first task was to develop biomaterial carriers to introduce therapeutic cells into the eye.

Currently, StemSight’s treatment for corneal blindness is in pre-clinical studies, meaning it has to undergo rigorous safety and efficacy testing before reaching the market. “StemSight’s product will be different from existing solutions,” Laura explains. “It can be applied to patients with two diseased eyes, whereas current procedures are only available to those with one healthy eye.” The company aims to begin clinical trials in 2027. “A lot of work happens behind the scenes before we can go commercial. We need to validate whether we can do this, whether the pharmaceutical industry believes in it, and ultimately apply the learnings from this product to develop other high-impact therapies.”

FROM THE RESEARCH LAB TO THE WORLD

Since its founding in 2021, StemSight has been financially backed by Voima Ventures, a fund supported by the EU. This support provided crucial financial relief, allowing the team to focus on developing the product and conducting studies. Financing needs has obliged the team to navigate the steep learning curve of networking—an essential but unfamiliar task for a team more accustomed to labs than industry events. “We’ve spent countless hours since 2021 building connections—attending events, meeting people, and getting to know them. It requires a lot of patience, especially for first-time founders.”

Despite the challenges, Laura and her co-founders are certain the journey has been worth it. Addressing an unmet medical need is, for them, the opportunity of a lifetime – making their own mark in the healthcare industry from the research lab to the world.

Location: Tampere, Finland
Financial Intermediary: Voima Ventures
SME: StemSight
Sector: biotechnology
Number of employees: 8
Financing purpose: seed financing, product development
EIF financing: InvestEU