London biosensor company Sava Technologies has raised $36m (€32.08m) in a Series B led by Ascensia, taking total funding to $68m (€60.6m). The lead investor has also been appointed commercialisation and distribution partner for Sava's glucose microsensor, starting in Europe.
Sava was founded in 2019 by Renato Circi and Rafaël Michali, both bioengineers from Imperial College London. The company builds a wearable that reads molecules just beneath the skin, beginning with glucose.
It spent five years in stealth before surfacing in June 2024 with a seed round of more than €7.4m led by Balderton Capital and Exor Ventures. A €16.6m Series A followed in July 2025, led by Balderton and Pentland Ventures.
The Series B, announced on 9 October, is larger than both earlier rounds combined. Ascensia led, with Balderton Capital, Norrsken VC, Simplyhealth Ventures, JamJar Investments and Pentland Ventures among the other participants.
The valuation was not disclosed, and neither was the size of Ascensia's stake.
The lead investor is a strategic rather than a financial one. Basel-based Ascensia was formed in 2016 when PHC Holdings, the Tokyo-listed healthcare group, bought Bayer Diabetes Care. It sells in more than 90 countries, runs direct sales operations in 29 markets and owns the Contour range of blood glucose meters.
Alongside the equity, the two companies signed an agreement that makes Ascensia the commercialisation and distribution partner for Sava's device, initially in Europe. The arrangement puts Sava's route to market in the hands of a shareholder, so the company's largest new backer also controls its first sales channel.
Sava says its microsensors are about ten times shorter than the filament used in conventional continuous glucose monitors, which reduces disruption to the skin while still reaching interstitial fluid. The company also says the technology was designed for high-volume manufacture from the start, and that the same platform can be extended to other biomarkers.
The new capital is earmarked for scaling up manufacturing and preparing for commercial launch.
Regulatory approval is the next gate. Sava plans a pivotal clinical study this year and is seeking a CE mark for non-adjunctive use, the standard that allows insulin dosing decisions to be made from the device without routine fingerstick confirmation. If approval is granted, Ascensia will lead the launch in Europe.
Circi, who is co-chief executive, said continuous monitoring had been held back for decades by legacy technology. Peter Bodlund, chief executive of Ascensia, said the deal widened his company's portfolio and addressed unmet needs in diabetes care.
For Sava's earlier backers, the round brings in a corporate investor with a direct commercial interest in the product. For Ascensia, it secures access to a sensor technology it did not build itself.
Original source: EU-Startups — https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/10/londons-sava-raises-e32-08-million-and-partners-with-ascensia-to-bring-its-glucose-microsensor-to-europe/
