marketing-medtech

**Founder:** Martin Denais — Co-Founder & CEO
**Background:** finance | verified: True — Finance. Martin Denais spent roughly 7 years in finance before founding Callyope: Investment Banking Analyst at Goldman Sachs (2017-2018), then Associate/Senior Associate in private equity at Apax Partners (2019-2023). He holds an MSc in Finance & Private Equity from the London School of Economics (LSE), in addition to an engineering MSc from École nationale des ponts et chaussées. He co-founded Callyope (AI for mental health) as CEO in January 2023.</actual_background>
<parameter name="evidence">The Org profile and corroborating sources state Martin Denais worked as an Investment Banking Analyst at Goldman Sachs (2017-2018) and as Associate/Senior Associate at private equity firm Apax Partners (2019-2023), and holds an MSc in Finance & Private Equity from LSE. He is described as having spent ~7 years in finance before pivoting to a purpose-driven career with Callyope. This directly confirms a finance background.</evidence>
<parameter name="source">https://theorg.com/org/callyope/org-chart/martin-denais
**Stage / fundraise:** Early-stage deeptech / SaMD, founded 2023 (~3 years old as of mid-2026). Seed-funded, pre-CE-mark, in clinical-validation phase with French psychiatric hospitals. / Raised 2.2 M€ in Nov 2023, led by 360 Capital and Bpifrance (Digital Venture fund), with No Label Ventures and angels (Thomas Clozel, CEO Owkin; Adrien Montfort, CTO Sorare). i-Lab 2024 laureate (PRECISIONBIPO project). Funds earmarked for regulatory roadmap + ML tech — likely approaching a follow-on raise to fund CE/clinical work.
**Regulatory trigger:** Clinical SaMD for psychiatry => CE marking under MDR is an explicit stated milestone ("once CE marking is obtained, the device can be prescribed..."). IEC 62304 software lifecycle + clinical-validation evidence and eventual reimbursement (CPMC/clinics/general practice) are all ahead. Strong compliance-evidence trigger.
**Email:** contact@callyope.com (confidence medium) — Domain @callyope.com confirmed. contact@callyope.com surfaced via RocketReach (aggregator), NOT published on the site — the official contact page uses a form only, so treat as medium. CEO direct address is unconfirmed; a martin@callyope.com guess would be low and is not asserted as published. Best non-fabricated reach is the site contact form (purpose: healthcare professional/researcher) or LinkedIn DM.
**LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/in/martindenais/ **Website:** https://www.callyope.com/
**Score:** 12 -> Tier A
**Hook:** Martin, you're a Goldman/Apax finance founder steering a speech-AI SaMD toward CE marking — the classic moment where a research-grade ML team has to become a regulated-software org. OmDev plugs in senior devs + a dedicated CTO and an MDR/IEC 62304 compliance engine (SOUP register signed every build, requirements-to-code-to-test traceability feeding the technical file) at a fixed monthly price ~3x cheaper than hiring that regulatory-SW team in-house — so your seed runway buys CE-readiness, not headcount, and you keep the code.

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## Founder & background
Martin Denais is Co-Founder & CEO of Callyope (founded Jan 2023). His background is pure **finance**: Investment Banking Analyst at Goldman Sachs (2017-2018), then 4 years in private equity at Apax Partners (Senior Associate/Associate, 2019-2023). ([theorg](https://theorg.com/org/callyope/org-chart/martin-denais), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/martindenais/))
Co-founders: Xuan-Nga Cao (COO, speech-science/ops) and Rachid Riad (CSO/CTO, speech-AI research) — so there IS in-house technical leadership.

## Funding & momentum
Raised **2.2 M€ (Nov 2023)** led by 360 Capital + Bpifrance Digital Venture, with No Label Ventures and angels Thomas Clozel (CEO Owkin) and Adrien Montfort (CTO Sorare). ([Bpifrance](https://presse.bpifrance.fr/callyope-leve-22meur-pour-revolutionner-le-suivi-des-troubles-en-sante-mentale))
**i-Lab 2024 laureate** (PRECISIONBIPO) and "Prix des Psychiatres" at Encéphale 2023. Funds explicitly target the regulatory roadmap + ML — a strong signal a follow-on raise is on the horizon. ([data.gouv](https://www.data.gouv.fr/datasets/laureats-i-lab-concours-national-daide-a-la-creation-dentreprises-de-technologies-innovantes-1), [Le Hub](https://lehub.bpifrance.fr/callyope-leve-22me-pour-developper-des-solutions-de-suivi-pour-les-maladies-du-cerveau/))

## Product & regulatory
Speech-biomarker **SaMD** for severe psychiatric illness (schizophrenia, bipolar, severe depression): an AI foundation model trained on ~20,000 speakers analyzes ~30s of speech to score symptom severity for psychiatrists. ([Le Hub](https://lehub.bpifrance.fr/callyope-leve-22me-pour-developper-des-solutions-de-suivi-pour-les-maladies-du-cerveau/))
Regulatory trigger is explicit: **CE marking under MDR** is the stated gate to prescription ("once CE marking is obtained..."), implying IEC 62304 lifecycle, clinical-validation evidence and reimbursement work still ahead. ([Maddyness](https://www.maddyness.com/2023/11/22/comment-callyope-veut-reinventer-le-suivi-des-troubles-mentaux/))

## Pain & buying signals
The team is research-AI-strong (CTO present) — so the gap is NOT raw tech leadership; it's converting deployed research models into a **CE-marked, MDR/IEC 62304-compliant device with full traceability**, exactly where speech-AI SaMD startups stall.
A finance CEO on seed runway must reach CE-readiness before the next round. ([actuia](https://www.actuia.com/actualite/sante-mentale-callyope-la-start-up-qui-transforme-les-soins-grace-a-la-telesurveillance-vocale-leve-22-millions-deuros/))
**Why OmDev fits:** senior devs + a dedicated CTO + a compliance engine (signed SOUP register per build, requirements→code→test traceability feeding the IEC 62304/MDR file) at a fixed price ~3x cheaper than building that regulatory-SW team in-house — runway buys CE-readiness, not headcount, and Callyope keeps the code.

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**Sources:** https://theorg.com/org/callyope/org-chart/martin-denais · https://www.linkedin.com/in/martindenais/ · https://presse.bpifrance.fr/callyope-leve-22meur-pour-revolutionner-le-suivi-des-troubles-en-sante-mentale · https://lehub.bpifrance.fr/callyope-leve-22me-pour-developper-des-solutions-de-suivi-pour-les-maladies-du-cerveau/ · https://www.maddyness.com/2023/11/22/comment-callyope-veut-reinventer-le-suivi-des-troubles-mentaux/ · https://www.actuia.com/actualite/sante-mentale-callyope-la-start-up-qui-transforme-les-soins-grace-a-la-telesurveillance-vocale-leve-22-millions-deuros/ · https://www.data.gouv.fr/datasets/laureats-i-lab-concours-national-daide-a-la-creation-dentreprises-de-technologies-innovantes-1 · https://www.callyope.com/ · https://www.callyope.com/contact