Nil Medical scales up to reach more patients

Nil Medical's medical infusion vest, the "Nil Medical Vestpack," is being tested at five hospitals in Sweden as part of a clinical trial. Now, the company is looking to hire a Business & Sales Manager.
"To achieve our goal of making the vest available to more children and hospitals, we need to grow our team," says Martin Hanberger, CEO and founder of Nil Medical.

Back in 2011, Martin — then a master's student in industrial design — began collaborating with the pediatric oncology department at Norrland University Hospital in Umeå to find ways to ease the burden of long-term cancer treatments for children and young people. This work led to the development of the Nil Medical Vestpack, and five years ago, Nil Medical was officially established as a company.

Although Nil Medical has a four-person development team, Martin Hanberger is currently the company’s only employee — a situation that is becoming increasingly unsustainable as business momentum picks up.

Expanding to Finland
The vest is now part of a national quality-of-life study and is being used by patients at five hospitals in Sweden:

• Akademiska Hospital in Uppsala
• Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm.
• Linköping University Hospital
• Sahlgrenska University Hospital
• Norrland University Hospital in Umeå

It is also being tested at a hospital in Finland, and Nil Medical is exploring opportunities in additional countries.

The goal is clear: to bring the vest to more children and hospitals, giving more patients the freedom of movement during treatment. However, the Umeå-based startup needs to expand its team for this vision to become a reality.

"We are hiring a Business & Sales Manager, who will play a key role in driving our mission-driven growth. It’s exciting to bring someone on board and start building a team. We plan to recruit a third team member in the near future," says Martin, who has been receiving business support from Umeå Biotech Incubator (UBI) for the past year and is based at their offices.

"The support from UBI has been invaluable. We’ve received guidance on everything from business development to finance and communication, and it feels like we've become part of a small team here as well," he adds.

Unlocking New Opportunities
While the Nil Medical Vestpack was originally designed for pediatric cancer patients, it has proven beneficial for other patient groups as well.

"We’ve discovered that the vest is also highly useful in nutritional therapy. Some patients require continuous IV infusions, and today, we have a handful of patients across Sweden testing the vest for this purpose," says Martin.