Cluj-based Fortech Investments invests in US medical startup UpLyft

Fortech Investments, the investment arm of Cluj-Napoca-based software development company Fortech, said it was investing in the US medical startup UpLyft.

The San Diego startup has developed a product that allows patients with reduced mobility to move out of the bed and into a wheelchair unassisted in less than a minute.

The product, described as the first self-transfer system of its kind, is built in San Diego according to FDA (Food and Drug Administration) standards.

So far, UpLyft has already received USD 200,000 pre-orders and has 15 US and international patents. This new round of funding of USD 760,000 - of which USD 185,000 from Fortech Investments - will "produce several devices and expand their sales and promotion potential, both among patients and among institutions."

The investment in UpLyft comes after, last year, Fortech Investments also invested in Telios, a Romanian telemedicine startup.

"We chose to invest in UpLyft primarily because we were impressed by their product and the degree of innovation they managed to bring into this field. It is a product that has a visible impact on the quality of life of people and on the improvement of conditions in medical institutions. We are also attentive and active in this niche of home care services since last year, we invested in Telios, another startup that innovates the medical field; we will seek to take full advantage of the synergy that the startup creates in the portfolio with the activity that Fortech carries out," Valentin Filip, managing director at Fortech Investments, said.

"We are looking forward to working with our new long-term partner, Fortech Investments, whose smart resources and software expertise aligns closely with our future product development plans. As we begin to expand, UpLyft is hopeful and excited at the prospect of European commercialization in 2023," Craig Misrach, president and CEO of UpLyft, said.

The story of UpLyft started in 2016, after the son of a friend of the founder Anton Simson became paraplegic following a bicycle accident. In time, he began to look for a solution to make it easier for the parents in charge of the care. Five years and nine prototypes later, the product has reached its final form, and the founders are completing their mission to "restore the independence of those suffering from mobility problems and to protect those who take care of them, avoiding injuries caused by manual lifting of patients".

Fortech Investments is the investment branch of Fortech and a technology partner for specialists in fields such as manufacturing and medtech. It offers capital, smart money and other resources to help development in these fields with the aid of technology, via partnerships and strategic investments.