Ireland-Based X-Bolt Orthopaedics Raises New Funding

Dublin, Ireland-based hip fracture fixation company, X-Bolt Orthopaedics, has raised 1.8 million euros (approximately $2.4 million) in a seed-funding round led by AIB Seed Capital Fund. The round also included participation from private investors “with backgrounds in medtech and medical practice,” according to Siliconrepublic.com, Ireland’s technology news website.

The company will used the money to move forward with U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the X-Bolt product in the United States and to “fast track” sales of the product to the global export market.

Brian Thornes, an orthopedic surgeon, founded the company in 2007 to develop a unique expanding bolt medical device used for hip fracture fixation. The device already is in use in 100 patients in Ireland and the United Kingdom. According to the company, the device is designed to improve the efficiency of current hip fracture treatments and reduce the need for repeat surgery.

The company outsources its manufacturing, packaging and sterilization to companies based in Ireland, the website reported. The company plans to increase direct employment through export sales to the United Kingdom, the rest of Europe, and the United States, within the next two years.