{"id":114284,"date":"2025-11-05T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/?p=114284"},"modified":"2026-03-13T11:57:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T10:57:53","slug":"pitch-and-people-virtonomy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/","title":{"rendered":"Virtonomy: How digital twins save lives"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Simulation instead of animal testing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Seven years of development time, over $100 million in investment \u2013 that's how long and expensive it takes, on average, to develop a new medical device. The biggest hurdle is clinical trials, such as... Simon Sunday<\/strong>, Co-Founder of Virtonomy in Pitch & People<\/a> Video podcast tells the story:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cMany fail due to the basic costs, the long timeframe, or simply because they are not feasible.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This is exactly where it starts Virtonomy<\/a> to: With digital patient twins based on real clinical data, implants and medical devices can be virtually tested and optimized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result: Costs and development time are drastically reduced, animal testing and clinical trials are minimized \u2013 with results that meet regulatory requirements. Industry giants such as Medtronic, Boston Scientific, and Johnson & Johnson are already using the Munich-based technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Virtonomy saves lives<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What has long been standard practice in the automotive industry is now revolutionizing medical technology. But Virtonomy is about more than efficiency \u2013 it's about saving sick lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A particularly striking example of the difference Virtonomy's technology can make is the case of a seriously ill heart patient. He was to receive a new heart valve repair system \u2013 but the regulatory authority initially refused approval because data on its durability was lacking. Simon Sunday<\/strong> remembers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

"Experimentally, this would have taken half a year. The patient would not have survived, as he had a maximum of three weeks to receive the implant."<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Virtonomy team simulated the test on the computer, checked the durability and safety, and produced a comprehensive report. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

"The report was submitted, accepted, and the patient was able to receive treatment. We have saved another life."<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Help for the youngest<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Virtonomy's approach is particularly important in pediatric medicine. For complex heart surgeries on children, the access routes to the heart are digitally planned in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

"The whole process can be tested on the computer before implantation, then the best access route is evaluated together with the clinicians."<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For the young patients, this can be a matter of life and death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeepTech made in Munich<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Virtonomy is backed by a team of around 20 experts with strong roots in Munich's tech scene. After studying applied mathematics and earning a doctorate in cardiovascular engineering, Simon Sonntag founded the company in 2019 together with Wen-Yang Chu, formerly of Philips Healthcare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supported from the beginning by Programme of the UnternehmerTUM and international investors<\/a> Like Holzbrinck Ventures, Accenture, and Honeystone Ventures (Palo Alto), Virtonomy is today a globally growing MedTech company. Interest is growing particularly rapidly in the USA, where the FDA is increasingly promoting in silico methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A market that is just emerging \u2013 but will become huge.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sunday <\/strong>is convinced: The market for virtual clinical trials is only just beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

"When you look at how much money is currently being invested in clinical trials, you can imagine what it means if we can save even just a few years of development time."<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Munich-based startup demonstrates how digital technologies can change medical technology and create real added value for patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The development of new medical devices often takes years, costs millions, and too frequently fails in clinical trials. The Munich-based deeptech startup Virtonomy aims to change that and is saving lives in the process.
\nIn the video podcast Pitch & People, founder Simon Sonntag talks about the digital twin as the key to faster, safer and more ethical medtech innovations.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":114286,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5638,1083,3855],"tags":[3116,731,5377,3923],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nVirtonomy: Wie digitale Zwillinge Leben retten - Munich Startup<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mit Simulationen statt Tierversuchen treibt Virtonomy die Medizin voran und zeigt, wie digitale Zwillinge Leben retten k\u00f6nnen.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Virtonomy: Wie digitale Zwillinge Leben retten - Munich Startup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mit Simulationen statt Tierversuchen treibt Virtonomy die Medizin voran und zeigt, wie digitale Zwillinge Leben retten k\u00f6nnen.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Munich Startup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/munichstartup\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-05T08:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-13T10:57:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kyrill Ring\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@munich_startup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@munich_startup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kyrill Ring\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/\",\"name\":\"Virtonomy: Wie digitale Zwillinge Leben retten - Munich Startup\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Virtonomy_10-e1762171782494.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-05T08:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-13T10:57:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/#\/schema\/person\/2a39c8b6c59ed840108cf4710b620656\"},\"description\":\"Mit Simulationen statt Tierversuchen treibt Virtonomy die Medizin voran und zeigt, wie digitale Zwillinge Leben retten k\u00f6nnen.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Virtonomy_10-e1762171782494.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Virtonomy_10-e1762171782494.jpg\",\"width\":1894,\"height\":995,\"caption\":\"Simon Sonntag von Virtonomy im Gespr\u00e4ch mit Kyrill Ring\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Virtonomy: Wie digitale Zwillinge Leben retten\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/\",\"name\":\"Munich Startup\",\"description\":\"Das offizielle Startup-Portal f\u00fcr M\u00fcnchen\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/#\/schema\/person\/2a39c8b6c59ed840108cf4710b620656\",\"name\":\"Kyrill Ring\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b28dac9ce0cf5f781bc8792b95f2eba3?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b28dac9ce0cf5f781bc8792b95f2eba3?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kyrill Ring\"},\"description\":\"Kyrill Ring hat 15 Jahre lang als Live-Reporter f\u00fcrs Fernsehen gearbeitet und ist seit Juli 2025 als Brand & Communications Manager bei Munich Startup t\u00e4tig. Hier verantwortet er neben seiner Arbeit als Redakteur f\u00fcr die Webseite neue Formate wie den Videopodcast Pitch&People.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/author\/kyrillring\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Virtonomy_10-e1762171782494.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1894\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"995\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Virtonomy: How digital twins save lives - Munich Startup","description":"Virtonomy is advancing medicine by using simulations instead of animal testing, demonstrating how digital twins can save lives.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Virtonomy: Wie digitale Zwillinge Leben retten - Munich Startup","og_description":"Mit Simulationen statt Tierversuchen treibt Virtonomy die Medizin voran und zeigt, wie digitale Zwillinge Leben retten k\u00f6nnen.","og_url":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/","og_site_name":"Munich Startup","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/munichstartup\/","article_published_time":"2025-11-05T08:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-13T10:57:53+00:00","author":"Kyrill Ring","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@munich_startup","twitter_site":"@munich_startup","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kyrill Ring","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/","url":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/","name":"Virtonomy: How digital twins save lives - Munich Startup","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Virtonomy_10-e1762171782494.jpg","datePublished":"2025-11-05T08:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-13T10:57:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/#\/schema\/person\/2a39c8b6c59ed840108cf4710b620656"},"description":"Virtonomy is advancing medicine by using simulations instead of animal testing, demonstrating how digital twins can save lives.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Virtonomy_10-e1762171782494.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Virtonomy_10-e1762171782494.jpg","width":1894,"height":995,"caption":"Simon Sonntag von Virtonomy im Gespr\u00e4ch mit Kyrill Ring"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/114284\/pitch-and-people-virtonomy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Virtonomy: Wie digitale Zwillinge Leben retten"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/","name":"Munich Startup","description":"The official startup portal for Munich","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/#\/schema\/person\/2a39c8b6c59ed840108cf4710b620656","name":"Kyrill Ring","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b28dac9ce0cf5f781bc8792b95f2eba3?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b28dac9ce0cf5f781bc8792b95f2eba3?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Kyrill Ring"},"description":"Kyrill Ring worked as a live television reporter for 15 years and has been Brand & Communications Manager at Munich Startup since July 2025. In addition to his work as a website editor, he is responsible for new formats such as the video podcast Pitch&People.","url":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/author\/kyrillring\/"}]},"og_image":[{"width":1894,"height":995,"url":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Virtonomy_10-e1762171782494.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_showyear":"","_inactive":"","_show_financing":"","_hide_on_map":"","_edit_lock":"1771507515:50","_edit_last":"25","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"Virtonomy","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Mit Simulationen statt Tierversuchen treibt Virtonomy die Medizin voran und zeigt, wie digitale Zwillinge Leben retten k\u00f6nnen.","_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"77","_thumbnail_id":"114286","wbounce_status":"default","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"5638","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"90","ms_image_format":"contentwidth","_ms_image_format":"field_5cb8587572c8b","ms_dachzeile":"","_ms_dachzeile":"field_5cd9b7f365df5","ms_bump_post_date":"","_ms_bump_post_date":"field_5d1341edcf42a","guest_author_name":"","_guest_author_name":"field_5cee78a6016f9","guest_author_image":"","_guest_author_image":"field_5cee7914016fb","guest_author_description":"","_guest_author_description":"field_5cee78dd016fa","ms_post_image_caption":"","_ms_post_image_caption":"field_5f735b0735284","ms_post_image_credit":"","_ms_post_image_credit":"field_5f735b1435285","suppress_startupbox":"0","_suppress_startupbox":"field_60a64b0b6efc6","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"3","_wp_old_date":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":"","footnotes":"","easy_language_simplification_original_id":"","easy_language_source_language":"","easy_language_simplification_language":"","easy_language_api":"","easy_language_prevent_automatic_mode":"","_wp_old_slug":"","_wp_trash_meta_status":"","_wp_trash_meta_time":"","easy_language_simplification_state_changed_from":"","easy_language_de_EL_changed":"","ms_competition_deadline":"","_ms_competition_deadline":"","_wpbitly":"","enclosure":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","wbounce_template":"","wbounce_title":"","wbounce_text":"","wbounce_cta":"","wbounce_url":"","wbounce_override":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_oembed_7131efca3705e16bd9da2c41df237660":"","_oembed_time_7131efca3705e16bd9da2c41df237660":"","_pprredirect_type":"","_pprredirect_url":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_newsletterglue":"","easy_language_text_language":"","_wp_desired_post_slug":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114284"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114284"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114340,"href":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114284\/revisions\/114340"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}