It’s against this backdrop that Cambridge University spinout CardiaTec is striving to tackle cardiovascular diseases (CVD). To bolster its efforts, the company today said it has raised $6.5 million in a seed round of funding.

CVDs are the preeminent cause of death globally, resulting in 17.9 million deaths each year, according to The World Health Organization (WHO). At the top of the list is ischaemic heart disease (coronary heart disease), responsible for 13% of the world’s total deaths.