The Murcian startup, formed by professionals, friends and volunteers from the Region of Murcia, is a pioneer in Spain in the development of the first advanced medical ventilator for ICU.
Thousands of people die every day because medical ventilators are not available. These highly reliable devices are inaccessible to emerging countries because of their cost. The COVID-19 epidemic has exacerbated this problem.
In March 2020, a team of professionals, friends and volunteers, led by Rafael Valverde, director of ADIMUR, developed an emergency respirator, "made in Murcia", called SAV-19 with the aim of addressing the lack of these devices in our Region during the first wave of the pandemic.
Those were the beginnings of INBENTUS, a Murcian medical technology startup formed by a group of ADIMUR executives and entrepreneurs with extensive professional experience who, in a difficult situation, decided to make available to the regional and national society all their experience and resources to contribute to the deficit of hospital ventilators.
"We want to make respirators more accessible to the population. That is why we created INBENTUS, in early 2020. In less than 1 month, we developed a prototype emergency ventilator for COVID at a competitive price and we have already shipped the first units to countries in Latin America" said Rafael Valverde, CEO-Founder of INBENTUS.
Many of us associate ventilators with COVID and fall far short of seeing the real magnitude of the problem. Ventilators have been, are and will continue to be fundamental for thousands of respiratory pathologies around the world. Without them, millions of people would die every day, beyond COVID.
According to a study by the World Health Organization, respiratory pathologies are the third leading cause of death worldwide. They cause more than 10 million deaths per year. In one year, COVID-19 has caused 2 million.
Prior to the pandemic, the annual worldwide production of such devices exceeded 300,000 units. It is estimated that this demand will continue to grow at double-digit rates for at least the next 10 years due to the increase in world population and life expectancy. A considerable increase in respiratory pathologies is expected. It is estimated that by 2027, +€12 billion will be spent on respiratory medical technology, with a sustained annual growth of 16%.
"To meet this great demand, we are developing a new, improved, high-performance medical ventilator for our hospitals' ICUs. It is the first advanced ventilator developed in Spain and, by a company from Murcia, made in Murcia" declares Valverde.
Antonio López, president of ADIMUR, expresses his satisfaction with the progress made by INBENTUS as the first company in the Region of Murcia to develop this advanced medical technology. "We are pleased that several ADIMUR managers participate in this exciting project and from the Association, fulfilling one of its purposes, to generate networking among partners, it has been possible to connect managers from various fields, with different experiences to grow quickly and solidly this business idea," says the president of ADIMUR.
INBENTUS was created with the intention of generating a focus of innovative medical technology in the Region of Murcia, so that we can gradually create a cluster of companies specializing in this sector, with one of the highest economic growth forecasts.
"We would like to thank the support that our project receives from the Ministry of Enterprise, Industry and Spokesmanship, the Institute of Development of the Region of Murcia and the University of Murcia. Without forgetting more than 400 small investors, 200 of them from the Region of Murcia, who are trusting in our business development" concludes Rafael Valverde.
INBENTUS is currently engaged in a financing round in order to increase sales, complete the licensing of our current ventilator, launch local campaigns in target markets and accelerate the development of our new high-performance ventilator.
You can participate in this crowdfunding campaign with a small contribution of 12,50 € through the "Crowdcube" platform.
All information is available at this link:
