On a bathroom scale-sized device in Galway, Ireland, Chris Murphy and Simon Kiersey think they've found an answer to one of diabetes care's most intractable problems: catching foot ulcers before they spiral toward amputation.
Their company, Bluedrop Medical, raised €10.5 million this past March—the 31st, to be exact—in a funding round that Atlantic Bridge and Elkstone co-led. It's the kind of money that signals investors believe the medtech startup, founded back in 2015, might actually be onto something. Whether that's optimism or caution depends partly on how you read the competitive landscape, where at least three well-funded rivals are chasing the same high-stakes market.
The device itself, called OneStep, doesn't look like much. Step on it for less than 30 seconds and it captures high-resolution images of your feet along with plantar temperature data—subtle heat variations that can telegraph inflammation or early ulceration before a wound becomes visible. That information flows into EveryStep, the company's cloud platform, where a combination of AI analysis and expert review flags trouble spots for patients and their care teams.
It's preventive monitoring for a condition that, left unchecked, can lead to infection, hospitalization, and limb loss. The numbers are grim enough to make investors pay attention.
The Money and the Roster
Beyond Atlantic Bridge and Elkstone—both with track records backing Irish and European health tech at expansion stages—the round pulled in the European Innovation Council Fund, Furthr VC, the Western Development Commission, Ascentifi, and a pair of HBAN syndicates (MedTech and Irrus Investments). That brings Bluedrop's total haul to roughly €16 million when you fold in earlier equity and grants.
Crunchbase calls this a Series A. Most Irish outlets and Bluedrop itself sidestep the label entirely, a common quirk in European fundraising where "seed" and "series" designations don't always map neatly. Call it what you want; it's the largest equity check the company has secured since a 2019 seed of €1.2 million from HBAN MedTech, which came alongside a €2.5 million grant from the EIC.
Perhaps what matters more is what they're doing with it.
Trials, Talent, and Texas
The capital is earmarked for wrapping up clinical trials and ramping production. One pilot study—you can find it under NCT05039645 if you're inclined to dig through ClinicalTrials.gov—finished in December 2023. A larger effort called MASTER kicked off the following month and is still enrolling. A third trial, this one focused on active ulcer management, began recruiting patients in February 2025 with SerenaGroup on board as a partner.
Bluedrop also had plans to more than double headcount, from 17 at the time of the raise to 42 by the end of 2023. Engineering and manufacturing roles stayed in Ireland; commercial hires headed to the US, where the company maintains a Houston presence and holds an FDA device listing (product code OIZ, marked "In Commercial Distribution" as of September 2023). Chris Sandroussi, who previously held roles at KCI and 3M, came aboard as Chief Commercial Officer to steer the American expansion.
That stateside push didn't go entirely smoothly. In mid-2024, Podimetrics—a competitor with its own temperature-sensing mat and a $45 million Series C under its belt—sued Bluedrop for patent infringement in Texas federal court. The case was voluntarily dismissed by October 31, no findings on the merits. These things happen in medtech, especially when multiple players are circling the same clinical problem with variations on thermal monitoring.
A Sprawling, Stubborn Problem
The market opportunity is substantial, if daunting. Roughly 589 million adults worldwide have diabetes, according to the International Diabetes Federation's latest count. Between 19% and 34% will develop a foot ulcer at some point in their lives. Of those who heal, about 40% will see the wound return within a year. Many ulcers don't heal at all—they progress to amputation.
Bluedrop's bet is that home monitoring, done consistently and caught early, can interrupt that trajectory. They're not alone in thinking so. Podimetrics has raised the most capital to date. Orpyx pulled in $20 million in 2024 for an insole-based system. Siren raised $9.5 million in early 2025 with sensor-embedded socks. Each approach differs slightly—mats versus insoles versus fabric—but all target the same high-risk population and the same essential insight: temperature changes precede visible wounds.
What Comes Next
Bluedrop's immediate task is proving out the clinical data while scaling distribution. The funding gives them runway to do both, though whether hospitals and payers will adopt at scale hinges on demonstrating real cost savings. Amputation is expensive, yes, but so is equipping thousands of at-risk patients with connected devices and managing the data stream that follows.
Murphy and Kiersey have been at this since 2015, long enough to understand the gap between a promising technology and a reimbursable one. The trials underway should help close that gap. So will the US commercialization effort, assuming they can navigate regulatory hurdles, payer negotiations, and whatever competitive friction emerges along the way.
For now, the Galway team has capital, clinical momentum, and a problem large enough to justify the attention. Whether that adds up to the kind of adoption they're counting on—well, that's the test every medtech founder faces once the funding press releases fade.
