INSIGHTS / Blog

The Siloton founding team (left to right): Alasdair Price (CEO), Euan Allen (CTO), and Ben Hunt (CCO)

SETsquared Bristol member, Siloton, has secured £860k to progress the commercial roll-out of its groundbreaking eye imaging technology.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), retinal vein occlusion, and diabetic macular oedema affect millions of people worldwide, putting them at increased risk of blindness. In the UK alone, AMD is consistently the leading cause of sight loss, with around 39,800 people developing the condition each year, according to the Macular Society.

To combat these statistics and support in relieving pressures across healthcare settings, Siloton has developed Akepa, a cutting-edge optical coherence tomography (OCT) chip with the potential to transform patient care.

Akepa offers a condensed version of the complex and costly machinery currently required for OCT imaging. Chip fabrication techniques allow for components for the device that are smaller than a human hair, with the actual chip itself smaller than a £1 coin. The breakthrough could save the NHS over £1 billion annually and allow patients to monitor their eye conditions from home, reducing the need for frequent hospital visits whilst also relieving pressure on outpatient departments across the country.

This latest funding round saw a renewed commitment from Evenlode Foundation, alongside contributions from South East Angels, the Francis Crick Institute, and other experienced angel investors. In addition, Siloton received non-dilutive funding through an Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst grant, bringing its total funding to date to £1.7m.

The investment will help Siloton to put a market-ready version of Akepa into the hands of researchers by as early as 2025, marking a major leap in the accessibility of high-quality eye imaging. By the end of 2024, Siloton hopes to achieve a world-first by capturing the first chip-based OCT image of a living eye in a commercial setting – a critical milestone in the technology’s journey toward clinical use.

Dr. Alasdair Price, CEO of Siloton, said, “Siloton has brought together a uniquely qualified team that is able to drive forward technology development at an unprecedented pace. This new support will help us take the next step towards commercialisation by shifting gear from R&D to product development.”

“The population of individuals with retinal disease is growing. New, more affordable and accessible OCT systems like our Akepa technology will be critical to serving patients with precision and efficiency. In turn, this could help reduce preventable blindness, save healthcare providers billions of pounds, and reduce pressure on already stretched eye clinics.”

“We are on the cusp of a significant milestone with our technology and look forward to sharing this in the not-too-distant future.”