Efferon, a startup named to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026's Startup Battlefield 200, says its blood purification device reduces organ failure rates and speeds recovery in children with sepsis, an acute inflammation triggered by infection. The company describes sepsis as a leading cause of childhood mortality, claiming roughly 3 million children under the age of five die from it each year.
The device is designed for use when standard treatments such as antibiotics fail to stop the immune system's overreaction and a patient's blood must be filtered to remove dangerous toxins. Efferon's absorbers target cytokines and toxins, which co-founder and CEO Dima Romashin compared to the smoke and flames of a fire. He said that in sepsis, endotoxins act as the flames while cytokines act as the smoke, and that Efferon's mechanism, unlike other devices on the market, can absorb both at the same time.
Efferon also makes absorbers for adults, but its pediatric device, Efferon NEO, is proving especially effective, according to Romashin. He said children have a significantly lower circulating blood volume and therefore require devices engineered specifically for their physiology. In April, Efferon NEO received a CE mark, Europe's equivalent to FDA approval, making it the first multimodal blood purification device built specifically for pediatric sepsis.
Efferon NEO is used in intensive care units across 30 countries, including European hospitals, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand. The company is preparing to file for FDA approval and says it is on track to reach $2 million in annualized revenue by the end of 2026. The FDA filing would bring the device before the U.S. regulator that approves medical products for the American market, where no pediatric-specific clearance has been reported.
The technology behind the startup was originally developed by scientists at Moscow State University, including co-founder Ivan Bessonov. Romashin, a serial entrepreneur, stepped in earlier this year as CEO to help commercialize it. He acknowledged that Efferon is not growing at the rapid pace of current AI startups, and said the company measures success differently: by every child who gets to go home.
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