Massachusetts-based Renovia, a women-led company that develops digital therapeutics for female pelvic floor disorders, has closed of an additional funding round totalling $17m.

The financing included new investor Parian Global Management, along with existing investors Perceptive Life Sciences, Longwood Fund, Ascension Ventures and OSF Ventures.

“Renovia and the Leva Digital Therapeutic are creating the gold standard for addressing the unmet medical needs of tens of millions of women suffering from urinary incontinence and other pelvic floor disorders,” said Zach Miller, chief investment officer of Parian Global Management.

Renovia will use the proceeds to support the national commercial launch of its flagship product, the Leva Digital Therapeutic, across more than 50 obstetrics and gynaecology-focused territories in the USA. The national launch, which began early this month, should improve access to first-line care for both women living with bladder leaks and urgency and gynaecologists seeking novel ways to connect with them.

“We’re very pleased to continue working with such an accomplished group of healthcare investors, which now includes Parian Global Management,” said Eileen Maus, CEO for Renovia. “It’s been clear since our first discussion with Zach and his team that they understand our markets and the critical need for better first-line care. Parian Global has joined us at a very exciting time in Renovia’s history, and we look forward to working with them as we continue to make first-line treatment for urinary incontinence accessible to the 20 million women in the USA who live with bladder leaking and urgency.”

The proceeds of the fundraising will also accelerate additional clinical development related to the use of Renovia’s motion-based mechanism of action for the treatment of urinary incontinence and other pelvic floor disorders.

“Until now, the large and chronically underserved population of women whose symptoms are not severe enough to warrant surgical intervention has been forced to mask the problem with limited effective treatment options,” said Miller. “Renovia is filling this void with a clinically validated and technology-enabled product platform to help patients in the privacy of their own homes, while simultaneously ensuring a woman’s doctor remains central to her care. We believe this model represents the future of healthcare, and we are thrilled to be partnering with a proven leadership team at Renovia whose track record of driving clinical and commercial change to improve the standard of care in women’s health positions the company to address this tremendous need with a scalable, technology-first approach.”

Urinary incontinence, or UI, affects 20 million women in the USA alone. Commonly referred to as bladder leakage or urgency, UI can have a negative impact on a woman’s quality of life and lead to potentially severe medical conditions. While data show that strengthening pelvic floor muscles can reduce involuntary bladder leaks and urgency, reluctance to discuss the condition and difficulty performing strengthening exercises correctly keep non-invasive, drug-free treatment out of reach for many millions of women who just live with it.

The Leva Digital Therapeutic is an FDA-cleared device that can help women strengthen their pelvic floor muscles effectively. It offers women a novel way to train and strengthen muscles through real-time visualisation of movement when a woman contracts the appropriate muscles. The Leva requires only five minutes of practice a day and has multiple clinical trials and published data supporting its efficacy.

Boston-based Renovia enables non-invasive, drug-free treatment via precise visualisation of pelvic movement in real time during pelvic floor muscle training, while monitoring usage and progress. The technology helps strengthen pelvic floor muscles, and rehabilitate and train weak pelvic floor muscles for the treatment of stress, mixed and mild to moderate urgency urinary incontinence, including overactive bladder, in women.

Treatment with the Leva Therapeutic is by prescription and is not for everyone. It should not be used while pregnant, or if the patient thinks she may be pregnant, unless authorised by a doctor.