Don’t say Neuroventis anymore — say Cascador Health. Since the end of 2024, the two companies have merged into one.
The Brussels-based platform dedicated to people living with epilepsy and migraine — as well as their caregivers — has joined forces with Cascador Health to enable large-scale use of medical data for the benefit of doctors and both academic and pharmaceutical researchers.
Strong support from the lifetech cluster
Cascador Health is set to establish an operational base in Brussels and join the lifetech cluster — a structure Jonathan Schreiber, co-founder of Neuroventis and Head of Operations at Cascador Health, knows and values well.
“This kind of support is truly useful,” he says. “We joined lifetech when Neuroventis was still just a small startup. It helped us meet the right people — legal, regulatory and IP experts — get in touch with hospital management, innovation centers and doctors, exchange ideas with other entrepreneurs, and participate in international missions.”
Even though these needs are now less critical thanks to internal expertise, lifetech’s guidance remains invaluable for navigating Brussels’ entrepreneurial ecosystem and connecting with investors.
Humanity at the core
Neuroventis was born from a difficult reality: living with epilepsy is hard, and treating it is complex. “Sanawar Syed, civil engineer and one of the co-founders of Neuroventis, experienced this firsthand, as a family member lives with epilepsy,” explains Jonathan Schreiber, part of the founding team alongside business experts Ludovic Ampe and neurologist Peter Dedeken.
“Our goal with Neuroventis was to use software and data to support people living with neurological diseases and their doctors,” Jonathan adds. Their breakthrough came when they won a hackathon organized in 2016-2017 by UCB, a global leader in epilepsy treatment.
“To build our platform, we spoke to many neurologists specializing in epilepsy and migraine to understand their challenges and expectations. We also met with patients and their families to fully grasp their needs,” he explains.
“We started with epilepsy in 2019, then expanded in 2020-2021 to migraine, a related neurological condition. Choosing to focus solely on neurology has been our strength. Today, we specialize in epilepsy and migraine to better understand patients — their caregivers and doctors are different — and offer them the most relevant solution.”
Tens of thousands of users
Two digital applications — Helpilepsy (for people with epilepsy and their caregivers) and MigraineManager (for those with headaches) — are available online.
“Patients can monitor their condition, log detailed symptoms, episodes and feelings, receive medication reminders, and securely share this data with their doctors for better tracking between appointments. That’s how we innovate — by integrating both patients and their physicians,” Jonathan says.
The Neuroventis platform is free for patients and has already gained more than 40,000 users worldwide, along with hundreds of doctors and major investors. “We raised about €2 million with Neuroventis to develop our vision and support our growth,” shares Jonathan. UCB also requested a tailored version of the platform for clinical research use.
Cascador Health: a key partner
But this wasn’t enough to guarantee growth or expand to other neurological diseases. “In 2024, we had to choose: raise more funds or join another company,” Jonathan recalls.
A key meeting with Philip Taillieu, founder and CEO of Cascador Health, led to the companies merging at the end of 2024.
Cascador Health was founded on the realization that vast amounts of potentially valuable medical data are scattered across different platforms and underused. It developed a legal and technological platform to connect data sources, making anonymized patient data available to academic and pharma researchers — while adding value for patients and doctors.
“The fact that it covers the full patient-to-research value chain convinced us,” Jonathan says. “Cascador Health also brings in pharma connections and strong legal infrastructure.”
Already active in immunology and oncology, Cascador Health wanted to expand into neurology and move from retrospective to prospective data collection — Neuroventis’ specialty.
A solid Brussels base
The Neuroventis branch of Cascador Health remains deeply rooted in Brussels. “We work closely with UCL, Saint Luc, Queen Fabiola Children’s Hospital, CHIREC and several local neurologists,” Jonathan explains.
“Our Brussels office also manages international relations across Europe and the U.S., since our platform is FDA Registered.”
He concludes: “Is it worth setting up in Brussels as an entrepreneur? I believe so. Belgium has a wealth of talent and is home to pharma giants. Brussels — a multicultural city and seat of EU institutions — lies at the heart of our small country. And being small makes us think internationally from the start!”
