ONWARD Medical raises EUR 40 million to extend ARC therapy commercialization

ONWARD Medical has secured EUR 40.6 million through an accelerated bookbuild offering led by a EUR 25 million investment from EQT Life Sciences, extending the company’s cash runway into the first quarter of 2028.

ONWARD Medical has raised EUR 40.6 million in gross proceeds through an accelerated bookbuild offering carried out as a private placement with institutional investors. The transaction includes a EUR 25 million investment from EQT Life Sciences and extends the company’s cash runway into the first quarter of 2028. The raise follows a EUR 50.85 million capital increase completed in 2025, which was led by Ottobock and supported by Invus and the ASR Global Impact Equity Fund.

ONWARD develops neurotechnology therapies designed to restore movement and autonomy in individuals living with spinal cord injuries and other movement impairments. Its ARC-EX System, a non-invasive platform cleared for commercial use in both the United States and Europe, is being rolled out across international markets. In parallel, the company is advancing its investigational ARC-IM implantable system, which targets unmet needs including blood pressure instability following spinal cord injury and is being explored in combination with brain-computer interface technologies and artificial intelligence to enable thought-driven movement.

The new capital will fund product development, clinical studies, and regulatory work for ARC-IM, while supporting expanded commercial activities for ARC-EX across the US, Europe, and selected international markets. ONWARD is a Venture Kick, Venture Leaders, and Top 100 Swiss Startups alumnus, with a Science and Engineering Center in Lausanne where the foundational research behind ARC Therapy was developed at EPFL and CHUV.

For a deeper look at the science behind ONWARD’s technology, listen to our Getting Serious podcast conversation with Grégoire Courtine and Jocelyne Bloch, the EPFL and CHUV researchers whose pioneering work on spinal cord stimulation laid the scientific foundation for ONWARD’s therapies, and who first demonstrated that a paralyzed man could walk again along the shores of Lake Geneva.