Munich Startup: What does Curevision do? What problem are you solving?
Richard Fobo, founder and CEO: Curevision has developed an innovative system that revolutionizes wound analysis.
Over 20 million people worldwide suffer from chronic wounds, and one in four families has a member with a chronic wound. These wounds are not only painful but also prolonged, placing a burden on healthcare systems of over 150 billion euros annually. Current wound assessment is often conducted through visual inspection and the use of paper rulers – a subjective and time-consuming process that leads to misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment. In fact, 50 percent of patients do not receive the correct therapy.
This is where our solution comes in: with our AI-powered technology, medical professionals can capture precise data in just two clicks – from wound size and depth to tissue types and temperature. This saves up to 90 percent of the time, relieves nursing staff, and thus ensures significantly more efficient and precise wound care.
Curevision: highly precise, user-friendly, and fast
Munich Startup: But that already exists, doesn’t it?
Richard Fobo: There are already smartphone solutions via apps, but they lack the sensors to capture temperature, for example. Other hardware solutions are usually specialized devices that focus on a single wound parameter – for instance, only surface measurement of the wound. This means multiple devices are needed to capture all important parameters and complete wound documentation. That means more effort, more time, and higher costs for customers. But customers need everything in one: highly precise, user-friendly, and results in just a few seconds.
Munich Startup: What is your founding story?
Richard Fobo: Our founding story began in 2020 when we became aware of how healing progress in chronic wounds is tracked – namely with paper rulers. After realizing the scope of the problem associated with this, we founded Curevision in 2021. We were supported very early on by the Munich ecosystem, particularly by the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship. After receiving the Exist startup grant, we were able to really get going.
“X-ray machine for your pocket”
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Richard Fobo: One of the biggest challenges was integrating diverse requirements from practice into a compact and user-friendly solution. From the very beginning, nursing staff and doctors made it clear to us: our solution offers huge added value and is urgently needed. But at the same time, we were also always told about the first prototypes: “please smaller, please lighter, please more handy”. That was almost squaring the circle; we often compared it to the demand for an “X-ray machine for your pocket”. That we’ve now succeeded in exactly the way customers imagined it from the beginning really makes us proud. And it delights nursing staff and doctors.
Munich Startup: Where do you want to be in one year, and where in five years?
Richard Fobo: Of course we have goals from our business plans. But our most important goal is that as many patients as possible are cared for with the help of Curevision. In nursing homes, outpatient care facilities, with specialized wound care providers, practices, and in clinics. We’re on a good path in Germany; in Europe, we’ve just begun to expand.
“We are very grateful to our partners […]”
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?
Richard Fobo: Munich has turned out to be the perfect location for us. The universities and colleges in Munich provide excellent soil for tech startups. The venture labs at TUM and the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship contribute to networking startups. Then there’s the Munich Technology Centre MTZ, which offers fantastic conditions for startups. And support from the BioM network, Bavarian programs like Bayern Innovativ, and of course Baystartup. We are very grateful to the partners who support us.
Munich Startup: Hidden champion or shooting star?
Richard Fobo: Is that an “either-or”? We were recently awarded the Health-i Award by Techniker Krankenkasse and Handelsblatt, the Eugen-Münch Prize from the Rhön Foundation, and the Innovation Prize Bavaria – but does that make us a shooting star?
In any case, chronic wounds are often not as prominent in public perception, even though patients and their families suffer greatly from them, often for months and years. In this sense, “hidden” applies here. Fortunately, there are increasingly fantastic startups, associations, and providers bringing this important issue more into the public eye. Because only together do we have a chance to overcome the silent epidemic of chronic wounds.
