Key Investor Signals
SmartVNS triggered 50.4% of movements vs 23.4% for therapists
In a peer-reviewed JNER feasibility study, SmartVNS triggered stimulation on 50.4% of functional movements versus 23.4% with therapist triggering, with similar precision at 76.3% versus 82.4%.
CHF 150,000 InnoBooster grant plus repeat Future of Health support
Gebert Rüf Stiftung awarded Skaaltec CHF 150,000 through InnoBooster, while Future of Health selected the company at two successive programme levels.
Next-gen SmartVNS board moved into EMC testing
Skaaltec finalized its next-generation SmartVNS circuit board in June 2026 and moved it into EMC testing, a step toward a certifiable medical device.
Other Positive Signals
- A 2026 Journal of Neuroscience study found movement-paired ear stimulation selectively activated motor circuitry.
- Joined the USZ Health Innovation Hub and received the USZ Startup Label in May 2026.
- Selected for Venture Leaders Medtech 2026 and its October investor roadshow in Boston.
- Named one of three Inventors finalists for the 2026 Swiss Technology Award, selected from 120+ applications.
- Won the Switzerland national prize at the 2026 James Dyson Award with SmartVNS, advancing to the global Top 20 round.
Team
Paulius Viskaitis
Co-founder & CEO
- Spent more than five years at ETH Zurich developing integrated neuroscience systems and analysis algorithms before co-founding Skaaltec.
- PhD in neuroscience from Imperial College London, with postdoctoral research at the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences.
- Awarded an ETH Pioneer Fellowship to translate SmartVNS from academic research toward a spin-off.
Dane Donegan
Co-founder & COO
- Researched vagus nerve stimulation for motor learning at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
- PhD from ETH Zurich on neural circuits controlling complex motor tasks using electrophysiology, imaging and closed-loop methods.
- Received a BRIDGE Fellowship for closed-loop non-invasive neural stimulation in stroke rehabilitation.
Max Ferdinand Quast
Co-founder & Chief Product Officer
- Developed movement-detection and stimulation-control algorithms that form a core part of the SmartVNS system.
- Joined ETH Zurich's Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory in 2023 as a research engineer working on SmartVNS.
- Mechanical engineering graduate of ETH Zurich, where his master's work focused on the SmartVNS motor-learning study.
Olivier Lambercy
Co-founder & Scientific Advisor
- Adjunct Professor at ETH Zurich and Co-Director of its Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory, where he has worked since 2009.
- Designed rehabilitation robots and led clinical studies with stroke patients in Singapore and Canada during his doctoral research.
- PhD from the National University of Singapore focused on robot-assisted rehabilitation of hand function after stroke.
Product
SmartVNS is a wearable system that pairs arm movements during rehabilitation with electrical stimulation of a vagus nerve branch in the outer ear. It combines a neck-worn stimulator, an earpiece and a wrist motion sensor.
Movement-triggered stimulation
A wrist sensor tracks rotation about ten times a second and triggers a one-second stimulation pulse when it detects a functional movement. Its threshold adapts continuously using recent movement data to match different levels of arm function.
Non-invasive ear stimulation
The earpiece stimulates an auricular branch of the vagus nerve through the skin. Unlike the FDA-approved paired-VNS therapy for stroke rehabilitation, SmartVNS avoids an implanted pulse generator and surgery.
Designed for self-setup
Seven of nine study participants self-applied the device in about 31 seconds. Its integrated controls replace the external computer used in the feasibility setup, supporting simpler self-setup with the unaffected arm.
Market Overview
Stroke creates a large and recurring rehabilitation need, with arm and hand impairment often persisting long after acute care. Existing therapy can improve function, but many survivors need continued rehabilitation beyond the time available in clinic-based sessions, creating demand for scalable ways to extend recovery support.
Paired vagus nerve stimulation is already clinically and commercially validated in stroke rehabilitation. Vivistim, an implanted system, received FDA approval in 2021 and is generating growing revenue, while its surgical delivery leaves room for a non-invasive alternative that could extend use beyond implant-eligible patients.
Nearly 12 million new strokes each year create a continuously replenished rehabilitation population.
Around half of stroke survivors still have arm or hand impairment six months after the event.
Stroke costs exceed $890 billion a year worldwide, reflecting its long-term health and disability burden.
Mobia Medical reported $32.0 million in 2025 revenue, up 104.8% from 2024 as Vivistim adoption increased.
Comparable Outcomes
Mobia Medical
Developed the Vivistim implant, which pairs vagus nerve stimulation with rehabilitation to improve arm function after chronic ischemic stroke. Mobia priced its May 2026 Nasdaq IPO at $15 per share, selling 10 million shares and raising $150M gross.
Axonics
Developed implantable sacral neuromodulation systems for urinary and bowel dysfunction, including overactive bladder and fecal incontinence. Axonics was acquired by Boston Scientific in 2024 for $3.7B.
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Sources
This profile was built from public company materials, ecosystem sources, market references, and professional profiles.