ONWARD Medical Secures €50 Million to Revolutionise Spinal Cord Injury Treatment

On 24 October 2025, Netherlands-based ONWARD Medical closed a €50.85 million private placement, issuing 11.3 million new shares at €4.50 each. The company operates across the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States, developing neurotherapies to restore movement and autonomy after spinal cord injury.

What makes this raise remarkable is who joined. Ottobock, the global leader in prosthetics and exoskeleton technology, participated as a cornerstone investor, joined by healthcare-focused investor Invus and the ASR Global Impact Equity Fund as anchors. These are not casual participants. They back technologies with genuine potential to reshape care models.

As Oliver Jakobi, CEO of Ottobock, noted, their continued investment reflects confidence in ONWARD’s technology and aligns with their long-term neuro-orthotics strategy.

Funding breakdowns often tell you more about strategy than press releases do. ONWARD’s allocation is no exception: 

40% goes to development and regulatory programmes for the ARC-IM® System, an investigational implantable device addressing blood pressure instability after spinal cord injury. Pivotal trials are already underway, creating immediate demand for clinical operations professionals, regulatory strategists, and biostatisticians. 

30% funds for commercial expansion across the US, Europe, and beyond. With FDA authorisation already secured for the ARC-EX® System and CE Mark certification for Europe, ONWARD now faces the challenge of getting this technology to people who need it. That means building sales teams who understand rehabilitation medicine, market access professionals navigating reimbursement complexity, and clinical specialists training practitioners. 

20% supports quality and administrative operations as ONWARD transitions from research startup to commercial-stage company. Scaling sustainably requires experienced quality leaders and operational specialists who can balance innovation with compliance. 

The remaining 10% covers working capital, extending ONWARD’s runway through 2026 and providing breathing room to build teams thoughtfully. 

ONWARD’s ARC Therapy delivers targeted electrical stimulation to the spinal cord, restoring movement and function for people with spinal cord injuries. The clinical evidence is compelling. The Up-LIFT pivotal study, published in Nature Medicine, showed that 90% of participants improved strength or function, while 87% reported improved quality of life. Some participants even experienced benefits more than 30 years post-injury.

For decades, patients were told that after 12 to 18 months, whatever function they’d regained was all they’d get. ONWARD’s data challenges that assumption.

Dr Chet Moritz, Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Washington, explained the impact:

“Regaining hand ability is the highest treatment priority for people with paralysis, five-fold higher than regaining all other abilities lost to injury. I believe the ARC-EX System will have a tremendous impact on quality of life.”

In December 2024, ARC-EX made history as the world’s first non-invasive spinal cord stimulation system to receive FDA approval for improving hand strength and sensation after chronic spinal cord injury. 

ONWARD’s expansion highlights the skills now rising in demand. Regulatory professionals who think strategically about pathways, not just execute submissions, are becoming critical as frameworks evolve across the EU MDR and UKCA. Commercial specialists who blend clinical empathy with business acumen are key to translating innovation into adoption.

R&D roles at the intersection of neurotechnology, AI, and brain-computer interfaces require cross-disciplinary skills that didn’t exist as career paths a decade ago. Quality and compliance experts with ISO 13485, FDA QSR, and EU MDR experience are now among the most sought-after professionals in MedTech. 

Looking ahead, ONWARD is developing the ARC-BCI platform, an AI-powered brain-computer interface enabling thought-driven movement. This will demand collaboration between data scientists, machine learning engineers, neuroscientists, and clinicians. 

Europe’s medical technology industry employs over 930,000 people directly, generating around €183,000 in value added per employee, with the market expected to grow to €150.8 billion by 2027. However, 83% of life sciences leaders report difficulty finding the right skills, and 75% expect shortages to worsen. 

The specialised nature of neurotechnology roles, spanning engineering, neuroscience, clinical medicine, and regulatory affairs, makes talent particularly scarce. Companies are increasingly looking externally, recognising that highly specialised skill sets aren’t always available internally. The Netherlands, where ONWARD is headquartered, continues to strengthen its reputation as a MedTech innovation hub. 

ONWARD’s work reflects a broader industry shift toward hybrid expertise across engineering, data science, and life sciences. Traditional boundaries between medical device engineering, software development, and clinical research are dissolving.

Companies now need engineers who understand clinical application, clinicians who appreciate engineering constraints, and data scientists who can apply AI to neurological signals. 

This “T-shaped” skill set, deep in one area and broad across related domains, is increasingly what defines success in MedTech. For professionals in adjacent fields, now is the time to position themselves for these emerging opportunities.

Dave Marver, CEO of ONWARD Medical, captured what drives this work:

“With FDA authorisation to market the ARC-EX System in the US, a new era begins for people with chronic spinal cord injury. For the first time, there is an approved therapy shown to improve hand strength and sensation after chronic SCI. No longer will people be sent home and told nothing can be done.” 

This human dimension is what draws talented professionals to life sciences. The opportunity to contribute to technologies that genuinely transform lives sustains motivation and pride in the work.

ONWARD’s success FDA approval, clinical validation, substantial capital, and credible leadership proves that translating neurotechnology from research to real-world application is possible. Expect continued investment in this space, new companies entering the field, and increasing demand for professionals ready to help shape its growth. 

Five years from now, neurotechnology will likely be a mature field with established players and defined career paths. Right now, it’s still being shaped, and the professionals entering it today will define what it becomes.

ONWARD Medical’s €50 million raise is ultimately about possibility. For patients, it offers renewed hope. For the company, it fuels innovation. And for talented professionals across life sciences, it represents a chance to build meaningful careers in one of the most transformative fields in healthcare.

That’s not a bad way to spend a career.

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