Acorai and the EIC Accelerator: Heart Pressures Without a Catheter

Acorai, based in Helsingborg, Sweden, and led by chief executive Filip Peters, is developing the Acorai Heart Monitor, a handheld device with four types of sensors that uses machine learning to estimate the pressures inside a heart failure patient's heart, which today can only be measured with a catheter. CORDIS lists the grant under the name Iaroca AB, with the same project acronym and description. It was selected in the EIC Accelerator's June 2023 cut-off with blended finance and received an EU grant of €2.30 million for AHM, a €3.36 million project from October 2023 to May 2025 covering a machine learning study of about 1,250 patients, product development, regulatory strategy and a pivotal study of about 300 patients, according to CORDIS.

The final report describes those four work streams and says the data and pivotal studies would be "the largest studies of their kind", according to the CORDIS reporting page. Acorai's CAPTURE-HF study enrolled more than 1,600 patients at 20 hospitals in six countries. Its results, presented in September 2025, showed that for high wedge pressure the device had 86% sensitivity and 90% negative predictive value but 53% specificity, and for high right atrial pressure 87% sensitivity and 70% specificity, according to Acorai. That makes it useful for ruling out congestion, and much weaker at confirming it.

Where Acorai Stands Now

In November 2024 Acorai closed a $4.5 million investment from the EIC Fund, Taiwan Medical University and private investors, with a further "$6M provisioned from the EIC Fund for future equity financing", and targeted "regulatory submissions and commercial launch by 2026", according to Acorai. In its 2025 review the chief executive reported a next-generation device with "performance improvements of over 40%", two new patent families and a $1 million paid pilot with SingHealth and National Healthcare Group in Singapore, according to Acorai. In 2026 it enrolled the first patient in HOSP-HF, a 1,000-patient observational study of congestion at discharge across ten centres. No FDA or CE submission has been announced.

The Technology: Listening for Congestion

Heart failure causes nearly three million hospitalisations a year in the EU and 30% of readmissions, the report says. Doctors adjust treatment best when they know the pressures in the heart, but measuring them requires a catheter, so few patients get it. Acorai's device combines four sensor types held against the chest and uses machine learning to estimate those pressures. In CAPTURE-HF it was reliable at telling clinicians when pressures were not high, and much less reliable at confirming when they were.

What the EIC Award Promised, and What the Record Shows

The project covered a large data study, product development, regulatory groundwork and a pivotal study to support filings. Acorai exceeded the data study's size and improved its device. The pivotal study's results, and the filings they were meant to support, have not been published, and the "launch by 2026" target has not been met by September 2026.

1. Machine learning data studyDelivered1,600 patients.
2. Product developmentDeliveredNext-generation device.
3. Pivotal studyUnverifiedNo results public.
4. Regulatory submissionNot announcedTarget was 2026.

The Money

The EU covered 68% of the project. In January 2024 Acorai raised more than $4.5 million in a seed round led by Solardis Health Ventures, and it said the EIC had committed "€10m in future equity financing", according to Acorai. The EIC Fund's first investment came in November 2024. Acorai's Swedish accounts were not reviewed for this article.

What Cannot Be Checked

Why Europe Should Care

Heart failure accounts for up to 5% of healthcare spending in the EU, the report says. A cheap bedside tool that tells doctors when a patient is safe to discharge could save money and readmissions. Acorai has one of the largest datasets in the field; the question is whether regulators accept a device that rules congestion out well but in poorly.

The Verdict

Acorai and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.