Sava raises $36M to kill the fingerstick glucose test
What's the deal? London-based Sava has raised $36 million in a Series B round led by AscensiaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the maker of CONTOUR blood glucose meters. The round brings the company's total funding to $68 million and comes with a new partnership to commercialise and distribute Sava's sensor across Europe.
What's the endgame? Founders Renato Circi and Rafaël Michali, both bioengineers trained at Imperial College London, launched Sava in 2019 to eliminate fingerstick glucose testing. Their skin-mounted microsensors are about 10 times shorter than those in conventional continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), causing less skin disruption. The device can also track ketones, lactate, cortisol, sodium, and alcohol.
Why now? Sava recently published early findings from a 50-person study: the first 25 patients received accurate readings for up to 10 days, while most rival microsensors stop working after five. The company plans a major clinical trial this year and aims for CE approval within 18 to 24 months.
How big is the raise? At $36 million, the round sits in roughly the top quarter of funding deals by size — a sizeable cheque for a device still in the experimental phase, yet to win approval from the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency or the US Food and Drug Administration.
What could go wrong? Sava is a third entrant in a market dominated by Abbott and Dexcom. Its sensor remains unapproved, and competitors are moving fast: Biolinq raised $100 million for an intradermal sensor in April 2025, while Liom is building a needle-free wearable.
Ascensia, a subsidiary of PHC HoldingsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, led the round. Balderton Capital, which backed Sava's seed round and co-led its Series A, joined alongside Pentland VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Norrsken VCDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Simplyhealth VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, JamJar Investments, and other unnamed investors.
"For decades, continuous monitoring has been held back by the same legacy technology. This is about to change," said Circi. He added that the partnership aims "to deliver, as a first step, something radically better to millions of people with diabetes."
The signal: Sava believes 12 million people use CGMs today, against 589 million adults with diabetes — a figure the International Diabetes Federation expects to reach 853 million by 2050. Fortune Business Insights values the global CGM market at $13.86 billion in 2025, growing to $33.61 billion by 2034. A legacy fingerstick player betting on its disruptor signals where the market thinks the next decade of monitoring is headed.
Read more: Tech Funding News
Image credit: Sava
