Sweanty, CSIC and ICREA sign agreement to bring to market self-powered patches that analyze perspiration
The technology of these smart patches that generate energy through sweat to analyze this fluid was developed at the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona of the CSIC (IMB-CNM-CSIC). The technology provides information on the composition of sweat, a parameter that allows to know the tendency to dehydration of athletes and, on the other hand, to screen patients with cystic fibrosis.
The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and ICREA have signed a licensing agreement with the Catalan start-up Sweanty that will allow it to exploit and develop the patent for a technology that generates energy through sweat in order to analyze this fluid with smart patches that integrate the technology, which was initiated at the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (IMB-CNM, CSIC).
Sweanty is a spin-off company founded in July 2021 by researchers Anna Llorella and Laura Ortega, both co-CEOs of the company and formerly predoctoral researchers at IMB-CNM, Dr. Neus Sabaté, currently CSIC research professor at IMB-CNM and formerly ICREA, and Dr. Juan Pablo Esquivel, both scientific advisors to Sweanty.
The founding team has been working together on the development of the technology that has led to the smart patches since 2016 at IMB-CNM-CSIC, thanks to funding from different European (Supercell GA648518 and Powerpatch GA862121) and national (2018 PROD 00181) projects led by researcher Neus Sabaté.
The technology provides information on the composition of sweat, a parameter that, to date, has made it possible to determine the tendency of athletes to dehydrate and make personalized hydration plans for them, and to screen patients with Cystic Fibrosis in a clinical trial at the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu in Barcelona.
"The patches," says Anna Llorella, "allow us to analyze sweat and propose personalized hydration patterns." The product, still at the prototype stage, could be on the market early next year. The licensing agreement establishes the conditions for the development and exploitation of the patent.
Currently, the start-up is growing, conducting face-to-face Sweat Tests and prototyping the final patch and a mobile app with which patch users will be able to obtain their hydration guidelines. Sweanty was the winner last March of the second edition of the Allianz Startup Challenge, organized by the Barça Innovation Hub and Allianz within the framework of the Mobile World Congress. It was selected by ACCIÓ (Agency for Business Competitiveness) in the 2022 Startup Capital call to receive a non-refundable grant of €100,000 and has been awarded to be part of the Netmentora network and be accompanied for 2 years by this network of professionals for free.