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For immediate release
Jan. 23, 2006
Company closes largest seed financing round in BioTech Park’s history
Richmond, Va. – Vital Sensors, Inc., a medical device company and one of the newest tenants of the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, recently announced the completion of a $1 million seed financing round. This marks the largest seed financing deal in the BioTech Park’s history.
“We are very excited to welcome Vital Sensors to the BioTech Park and recognize the completion of such a major milestone,” said Robert T. Skunda, president and CEO of the Park. “It’s another company that has successfully attracted venture capital dollars into the Richmond region and further shows that the area is truly a hotbed of biotech activity.”
Vital Sensors established their corporate headquarters at the Park in December 2005, after the acquisition of Vital Sensors GmbH, a German entity that developed a technology for monitoring intra-cardiac pressure. After U.S. incorporation, the firm quickly closed their seed financing at the end of December with a fully subscribed $1 million.
Included among the investor group are four venture capital firms that also have committed to participating in the company’s Series A financing round. The investment firms, located in Hamburg, Germany, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C., all have a focus in the field of health care.
“We are delighted to be associated with a company with such a promising breakthrough technology and look forward to expanding our relationship with Vital Sensors,” stated Bob Zieserl, managing director for Stratus Ventures of Chicago, who coordinated the bridge financing. Both Zieserl and Joe Del Guercio, principle of D.C.-based CNF Investments and lead investor on the deal, will join the Vital Sensors Board of Directors.
Vital Sensors will use the bridge money to continue the development of their initial product, a sensor device that, when implanted, measures intra-cardiac pressure. This information can help physicians monitor and optimize treatment for patients with heart failure.
Donna Edmonds, chief operating officer and senior vice president of Vital Sensors, stated that the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park’s proximity to Virginia Commonwealth University and its medical campus was a major factor in the company’s location decision.
“We are particularly pleased to collaborate with Dr. Viqeshwar Kasirajan, chairman of Cardiothoracic Surgery at VCU along with Dr. Nick Smedira with The Cleveland Clinic and others,” said Edmonds, who is also a member of the Park’s Board of Directors. “They are working with our Scientific Advisory Board, which has been advising the company since the summer of 2005. The Board, comprised of academic experts in cardiology, cardiovascular surgery and heart failure from across the U.S. and Europe, is chaired by Robert Jesse, M.D., Ph.D., professor of internal medicine and cardiology at VCU. Our device captures and reports data telemetrically; therefore, we are also collaborating with members of the School of Engineering, specifically those involved in computer sciences and telemetric communication.”
Bringing even more bioscience activity to the region, members of both the management team and the Scientific Advisory Board for Vital Sensors, Inc. are involved with organizing the major national Summit on Systems Biology in downtown Richmond this March. The Summit has attracted the attention of the industry’s most influential researchers and policy makers, and will continue to showcase the region as the “new East Coast center for biosciences.”
More information on the Summit on Systems Biology can be found at: www.systemsbiologysummit.com.
Contact:
Nicky Colomb
Virginia BioTechnology Research Park
Phone: (804) 828-6884
E-mail: ncolomb@vabiotech.com
Web site: http://www.vabiotech.com
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