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.
Being tested in 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 in Gothenburg.
• Norrland University Hospital in Umeå.
It is also being tested at a hospital in Finland, and Nil Medical is exploring opportunities in additional countries.
Will play a key role in Nil Medical
The goal is clear: to bring the vest to more children and hospitals, giving more patients the freedom of movement during treatment. However, for this vision to become reality, the Umeå-based startup needs to expand its team.
“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 on Tvistevägen 48.
“The support from UBI has been invaluable. We’ve received guidance on everything from business development to finance and communication, and it really 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.