“We might just have one of the coolest companies around,” says Rutger Tulleken, CEO of AMT Medical, with genuine excitement. And he has every right to be proud. What started as a life-saving technique developed by his father has evolved into a pioneering company in bypass surgery. But the journey hasn’t been easy. Over 20 years, Rutger has faced and overcome countless challenges. Now, he’s closer than ever to making his vision a reality and completing his father’s life’s work.
The ELANA bypass
Rutger grew up with a father who was a neurosurgeon and a professor at a young age. “My dad never operated on the brain’s gray matter,” Rutger explains, “but always on the surrounding blood vessels.” This specialized focus led to his father’s life’s work: creating a bypass technique for stroke patients – the ELANA bypass. And it worked: “It was groundbreaking,” Rutger says. “My father became globally respected as a surgeon.”
The origin of a personal mission
While his father was perfecting the ELANA bypass, Rutger was off on a very different path, working in IT and turning around struggling companies. Business was in his blood; medicine, not so much. But everything changed when someone asked him to take a look at his dad’s project, which was running out of funding and on the brink of shutting down. It seemed like a massive loss to let such a life-saving innovation fade away. “It definitely warranted a visit,” Rutger thought.
When he dug into the patient records, he felt a powerful impact. “I came across the case of a 42-year-old mother of two whose life had been saved by the ELANA bypass,” Rutger recalls. It struck a personal chord, reminding him of his own mother, who passed away young. “It felt like a part of my own story,” he shares.
From that moment, Rutger had a mission. “I was determined to continue my father’s work, no matter what,” he says with conviction. And so began a 20-year journey to build AMT Medical into a company that saves lives.
From thousands to millions of patients
As Rutger got more involved in the project, a much bigger ambition surfaced: adapting the same core technique for bypass surgery on the heart. “We’re now targeting coronary artery disease, one of the world’s most common causes of death,” he explains. “We went from talking about thousands of patients to millions.”
The potential impact of this technique is enormous. It could allow for a bypass without open-heart surgery, meaning shorter recovery times, fewer complications and a quicker return to everyday life. “Our goal is for this to become the new standard in bypass procedures,” Rutger says. “We could improve and extend the lives of millions around the globe.”
From hard times to breakthroughs
Today, AMT Medical is making major strides toward full market approval for the ELANA Heart Clip and ELANA Heart Laser Catheter, innovations that could make heart bypasses far less invasive. But the road here was anything but smooth.
Back in 2005, the project was in dire straits. “It was a rough time,” Rutger admits. “We barely had any funding, and things looked bleak.” He took drastic measures to keep the project alive, even taking on debt himself.
One turning point came in 2008, when Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende visited as part of the country’s new Innovation Platform. “That visit was a game-changer,” Rutger says. “Suddenly, we got a lot of publicity, and it felt like the wind was finally blowing in our favor.” From there, an intense and lengthy process of securing patents and regulatory approvals began.
Testing and stepping back
But success wasn’t quick or easy. “It’s years of testing, testing and more testing,” Rutger says. “In medical innovation, perfection isn’t optional. Everything must meet extremely high standards, and rightfully so.”
The preclinical research was meticulous, involving extensive tests on pig hearts. First, on isolated organs and then on live pigs, to make sure the bypass technique worked within a real circulatory system. “We had to be sure it worked not just immediately but remained effective over time,” Rutger explains. It took years to prove the safety and reliability of the technique.
“For me, it was starting to get a bit monotonous. So during those years, I stepped away from the company to launch a new venture in big data.” New people came into AMT Medical and took over the project from there.
A near collapse and buy-in
In 2015, AMT Medical – without Rutger – was on the verge of a breakthrough. “I heard there were some issues with various stakeholders, so I decided to step in and mediate,” he recalls. This intervention ultimately led to the realization that the team running the company at the time wanted to quit.
“I said, ‘Quit? Are you out of your minds?’” Rutger remembers. “They said, ‘Yeah, we’re just done with it.’ So eventually I said, ‘Fine, then I’ll buy it.’ I bought all the patents, the data, everything. That was around 2016 or 2017.”
Then, in 2018, Rutger had a moment of reflection. “I thought, what do I really want? Do I continue with my ICT company? And then it hit me—this is amazing. It’s not about money; it’s about saving lives. The vibe is incredible, and everything about it is just… inspiring.”
A fresh start with Nextgen Ventures
At that point Rutger decided to dive back in, once again putting everything on the line. “We’d come so far, and I knew there was still a way forward,” he says. But they needed a new investor. That’s when Nextgen Ventures stepped in with a crucial seed investment.
“We basically had to start from scratch: new tests, new data,” Rutger explains. But the partnership with Nextgen was a turning point. “From the moment I met Peter Haasjes, there was a strong connection. They understood the urgency and the impact of our work, and they gave me the entrepreneurial trust I needed.”
“That’s smart!”
Rutger knew he didn’t just need funding—he needed the right kind of partner. “You want someone who gets your vision, not just someone focused on profit but also driven to make a societal impact,” he says.
“From the first conversation, working with Nextgen felt easy,” Rutger adds. “Peter knows exactly what works and what doesn’t. He always has a clear opinion, and, annoyingly enough, he’s almost always right. He just gets it.”
That sharp insight has been invaluable. “We talk every week,” Rutger says. “I’ve never had that kind of relationship with another investor. Peter helps me on strategic issues but also isn’t afraid to dive into the nitty-gritty. He genuinely thinks along with us in a practical way: if I’m having trouble getting a message across, he thinks practically and comes up with an idea that makes me think, “That’s smart!”’”
“Nextgen has become a strategic partner, opening doors and creating opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t exist,” Rutger adds.
From animal trials to human clinical studies
Since then, AMT Medical has experienced a remarkable resurgence. Over the last six years, the company has grown from just a handful of people to a dedicated team of 25 specialists. “We’ve re-engaged heart surgeons worldwide who believe in our vision,” Rutger says. And they’ve made critical progress: moving to human trials.
Starting with a small group of 10 patients, the aim was to prove the technique’s safety and effectiveness. After initial successes, they expanded to a study of 75 patients, focusing on MACE outcomes (Major Adverse Cardiac Events) and the blood flow of the bypass, crucial metrics in cardiac surgery. “The results have been really promising so far,” Rutger shares. “It feels like we’re finally close to the approval we’ve been fighting for.”
Looking ahead
The goal is to launch the product by 2027. “We want to set up training centers worldwide for surgeons,” Rutger says. But he knows they’ll likely need a global partner to make that happen. “Scaling this up will require someone with the right reach and resources.”
AMT Medical has attracted more investors over the years, but the bond with Peter Haasjes remains special. “His strategic insight and knowledge are still crucial,” Rutger says.
A 20-year marathon
It’s been a 20-year marathon, with Rutger investing his own money three times. But his dream hasn’t changed: “If I’m lying in a hospital at 80 for a simple treatment, I hope to see the AMT products over there on the shelves to save lives,” he says with a smile. And every day, that dream gets a little closer.
Ultimately, it’s all about people. Rutger remembers one moment that brought it all home: “A girl whose life had been saved by our technique once came by at our office to thank us and she suddenly gave me a big hug. I have two daughters myself… That’s why we do this.”
