Neuron Guard, an Italian medical technology company, is seeking a majority investor to fuel its expansion plans, co-founders Enrico Giuliani and Mary Franzese told Mergermarket.

The Modena-based company is being advised by Broletto Corporate Finance, the founders said.

Franzese, the company’s CMO, along with CEO Giuliani and Italian entrepreneur Andrea Nofri, currently hold a majority stake in the business, Franzese said. They are now ready to dilute their holdings to fuel the company’s expansion, she said.

They are currently holding exploratory talks with several major strategic players but remain open to further expressions of interest to ensure selection of the most suitable partner, Giuliani said.

The founders expect to receive first offers from interested suitors by the end of February, he said, expressing a preference for an accelerated process, potentially bypassing a binding-offer phase in favour of granting exclusivity to a preferred bidder by March.

The transaction is expected to close by the summer, he said.

Founded in 2013, Neuron Guard has developed an integrated brain protection system for the emergency treatment of acute brain damage at the point of care. The device, a wearable cooling collar, induces therapeutic hypothermia to reduce brain damage in both pre-hospital settings—such as ambulances—and clinical environments, he said.

The company, which recently completed the regulatory clearance process in the EU and the US, is now launching the large-scale commercialization of its devices, the CEO said.

The company projects revenues of approximately EUR 25m within the next five years, with margins exceeding 40%, he said.

Giuliani did not disclose the company’s valuation expectations, saying that it is not appropriate to provide specific guidance at this stage. Instead, the focus should be on an offer that reflects both the disruptive nature of the technology and its significant growth potential over the coming years, the CEO said.

“The technology is unique and positioned to improve patient outcomes while significantly lowering long-term healthcare costs,” Giuliani said. The decision to explore strategic options follows a period of rigorous clinical validation and R&D.

“The business is now mature enough to be scaled, allowing us to strengthen our clinical validation abroad,” Giuliani continued, noting that the company is currently collaborating with several Italian universities and the University of Cambridge.

While the primary focus is on strategic industrial partners, the company remains open to interest from private equity firms, provided they hold portfolio companies in the life sciences sector that can offer commercial and industrial synergies. “We are looking for industrial competence, not just capital,” the CEO said.

“We are operating in a largely untapped market niche,” Giuliani noted, adding that the company is specifically targeting industrial partners within the medical device segment with expertise in temperature management, neurology, or cardiology.

The goal is to leverage an existing global distribution network to scale internationally, he said.

Neuron Guard first attracted interest from business angels in 2014, but the current process marks a significant step up in maturity, Giuliani said. The entry of a majority investor will support the ramp-up of production through partnerships with both Italian and foreign manufacturers, Giuliani said.

Headquartered near Mirandola—Europe’s leading biomedical district—Neuron Guard raised EUR 2.5m in 2016. Over the years, it has conducted pilot studies in partnership with the University of Cambridge and Italian centers in Pavia and Bologna.