SeedBlink Blog

Meet Todor Jeliaskov, an innovator with a rich history of transforming healthcare. With over two decades of experience in leading enterprises like NuVera Medical and GE Ultrasound, Todor's expertise is sizeable. His journey from groundbreaking intracardiac imaging technology to AI-driven solutions marks a remarkable evolution in the medical field.

Now, let's turn our attention to the company he co-founded, inHEART, and explore the groundbreaking work they're doing to reshape cardiac care as we know it.

What inspired you to create inHEART, and how does your previous experience contribute to the company's vision?

The inHEART founding team started the company in 2017 after five years of clinical research, during which more than 3,000 patients were treated for their cardiac arrhythmias utilizing inHEART’s technology. I joined inHEART as a Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO in late 2019 to help the team start commercializing in the US and Europe and scale its business.

My background as a corporate executive in the medical diagnostic industry and a successful entrepreneur helps me guide inHEART at this exciting stage of company development. We started selling last year, and nearly 100 US and European hospitals already utilize inHEART’s solution.

Given the alarming statistics on heart-related fatalities, how does inHEART's technology specifically address the urgent need for accurate diagnoses and prevention of acute complications?

The current inHEART solution helps cardiologists treat their patients more efficiently and effectively. InHEART democratizes cardiac arrhythmia ablations, allowing more patients to benefit from these effective procedures.

Starting in 2024, we will release new AI-based solutions that allow cardiologists to identify patients at risk of deadly cardiac arrhythmias before complications occur. This is a much-needed help for physicians frustrated that 800,000 people die yearly in the US and Europe from sudden cardiac arrhythmias without knowing they are at risk.

Could you share a real-world example showcasing the impact of inHEART's technology on patient outcomes or healthcare institutions?

We have gathered clinical evidence in multiple studies, demonstrating that physicians using inHEART’s solution are 60% faster and 25% more effective in treating their patient's cardiac arrhythmias. You can find on our website webinars, customer testimonies, physician interviews, and countless medical publications showcasing the benefits of inHEART’s technology.

What are the biggest milestones and challenges ahead of inHEART?

Perhaps the next most significant development phase for inHEART will be achieving reimbursement for its service. It would further catalyze the growth of the company. We are in the process of completing our multicenter randomized controlled trial, which we need to start the process in the US and Europe.

Given that inHEART has developed a digital twin of the patient's heart utilizing AI, how do you see this technology evolving in the next 5-10 years, and what impacts will it have on both preventative measures and treatments for heart-related issues?

We are just at the beginning of the implementation of AI in healthcare, „scratching the surface” of all the opportunities ahead of us. AI will play an essential role in digital healthcare, especially in solutions that help physicians quickly and efficiently analyze vast amounts of diagnostic information to make the best patient prevention and treatment decisions. I am very excited about AI's future and its value to patient care.

Collaboration is key in healthcare. Can you talk about a particular collaboration or partnership that significantly influenced inHeart's development and the lessons you learned from it?

Yes, multidisciplinary partnerships are instrumental to solving today's healthcare challenges. InHEART itself is the result of a collaboration between physicians from Liryc, a leading medical research institute on cardiac diseases, and Inria, a scientific powerhouse in France, leading in AI development and research. inHEART is also part of Future4Care, created by an alliance of Orange, Sanofi, Generali, and Capgemini to accelerate progress in digital health, and a new soon-to-be-anounced industrial consortium for developing AI-based solutions for disease prediction.

With the company already established in the USA and EU and a significant increase in revenue from FY2022 to FY2023, what are inHEART's strategies for further expansion and adaptation of its technology to meet the diverse needs of patients and healthcare professionals globally?

inHEART’s solution became available in the US and Europe last year. Nearly 100 US and European hospitals already utilize inHEART’s solution, but there is still a long way to go. Just in the US and Europe, there are close to 10,000 cardiac arrhythmia ablation sites. Our priority in the coming years is to increase our footprint and user base in these territories.

Considering the competitive landscape and the complexity of equity management in the healthcare tech sector, how has inHEART navigated fundraising challenges? Additionally, is there an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) in place or any plans to implement one to incentivize and retain top talent within the company?

The high-interest environment slowed the investment frenzy from the last years, but I see this as a positive development, a much-needed correction. Investors are still searching for promising companies, and inHEART did well with its funding round.

Yes, inHEART has an Employee Stock Ownership Plan in place. In a dynamic startup company like inHEART, long working hours and time pressure are not an exception, and employee motivation is vital. What better way than having employees participate in the success of their organization?

Why should investors join this round, from your perspective?

First, it is an excellent investment opportunity with a near-term exit horizon in a growing industry and a large market. More importantly, it enables investors to make an impact by helping patients benefit from AI-based, world-class technology that guides and optimizes treatment strategies to support improved clinical outcomes and return patients to healthy lives.

Explore inHeart’s opportunity on SeedBlink.