• CARI Health

  Participated · Seed · Jan 2023

  CARI Health is building what it describes as the world’s first wearable medication monitor to enable remote medication monitoring and improve treatment compliance. The company plans to use the newly awarded NIDA SBIR Fast Track grant to support product development and conduct human clinical studies. It is eligible to receive up to $2.8 million over three years as project milestones are completed across Phase I and Phase II. CARI Health has previously received investments and support from the San Diego Angel Conference, NuFund Venture Group, Cove Fund, Chemical Angel Fund, Device of Tomorrow Capital, and several individual angel investors. The company also secured investments and accelerator support from the Cedars Sinai Accelerator and the Rady Venture Fund (UCSD), and participated in programs including the Institute for the Global Entrepreneur MedTech Accelerator at UCSD, MedTech Innovator, and EvoNexus. Founder and CEO Patrik Schmidle launched CARI Health following a family member’s struggle with opioid use disorder, and the firm says the grant will enable it to move toward human trials and broader deployment. CARI Health is building a wearable remote medication monitoring device that provides clinicians with real-time medication levels to enable tailored dosing and verify adherence. The company’s first clinical application targets patients on medications for opioid use disorder to allow remote proof of treatment compliance. CARI’s device is entering first in-patient human clinical studies and the company is preparing for the FDA regulatory pathway. Earlier development was supported by non-dilutive SBIR grant funding and participation in accelerator programs including Qualcomm Institute Innovation Space, UC San Diego’s MedTech Accelerator, and MedTech Innovator. The company says it will expand its intellectual property portfolio as it readies the product for regulatory clearance and commercial launch. CARI Health is based in San Diego and anticipates a subsequent financing round in the second half of 2023 to support regulatory and commercialization efforts.

• Telesair

  Participated · Series A · Jan 2023

  Telesair develops next-generation, compact and mobile respiratory care systems based on sensor fusion technologies and innovative pneumatics. Its first-generation product is the Bonhawa Respiratory Humidifier, and the company is also developing a second-generation system intended to help patients leave the hospital sooner and remain safely at home longer. Telesair’s solutions are aimed at hospitals, long-term care and skilled nursing facilities, rural health providers, and the homecare market. The company is led by CEO Bryan Liu and describes its platform as designed to elevate standards of care and improve patient and health-system outcomes. The recently announced Series A financing will support commercialization of the Bonhawa platform and continued development of follow-on innovations. Telesair is positioned to address what it describes as a multi-billion dollar market with growing respiratory disease challenges.

• Carlsmed

  Participated · Seed · Jun 2020

  Carlsmed develops the aprevo® personalized spine surgery platform, an AI-enabled system delivering patient-specific interbody fusion implants for lumbar fusion procedures. The company is commercializing aprevo for lumbar fusions and is developing a cervical fusion version planned to launch in 2025. Carlsmed’s implantable devices and software platforms are FDA cleared for lumbar spine fusion across anterior, lateral, and transforaminal approaches, and aprevo has received FDA Breakthrough Device designation for both lumbar and cervical devices. Management cites clinical publications showing aprevo patient-specific implants improve outcomes, and says its AI-enabled platform and business model enable rapid scaling of production to meet growing demand. Carlsmed’s mission is to improve outcomes and decrease healthcare costs for spine surgery, advancing the standard of care one patient at a time. Carlsmed produces aprevo®, an FDA‑cleared personalized spinal fusion device designed and manufactured for individual patients with spinal alignment correction built into the implant. The company leverages patient data and proprietary digital technologies, including machine learning and artificial intelligence, to create surgeon- and patient-specific implants. Carlsmed's stated mission is to improve outcomes and decrease the cost of healthcare for spine surgery by replacing mass-produced stock implants with bespoke devices. The company plans to use proceeds from its recent financing to ramp commercialization of aprevo® and scale adoption. Carlsmed closed an oversubscribed $30M Series B to support those commercialization efforts. Leadership additions tied to the round include Robert Mittendorff, MD, MBA joining the board and Widya Mulyasasmita joining as a board observer. Carlsmed develops the aprevo family of spine deformity correction devices, combining digital planning and personalized implants. Its platform uses machine learning and prior outcomes data to create optimized surgical plans and patient-specific aprevo implants. The company recently launched its Breakthrough aprevo devices and is focused on meeting surgeon and patient demand. Carlsmed's core product is a digital + surgical solution intended to enable superior correction of adult spinal deformities. The company says its mission is to help surgeons obtain better results at lower cost and help adults regain active lifestyles. Carlsmed is based in San Diego and has closed a $10M Series A to commercialize the aprevo devices. Carlsmed leverages machine learning and prior outcomes data to personalize treatment for complex adult spinal deformities. Its proprietary aprevo system creates surgical plans and patient-specific devices tailored to each individual's medical situation. The company positions the system to improve results while lowering treatment costs and helping adults regain active lifestyles. Carlsmed is incubating at EvoNexus and was named a Connect | San Diego Venture Group 2020 Cool Company. It recently closed an oversubscribed $2.5M seed round to accelerate the clinical launch of the aprevo system. The company also added Alexander Arrow as CFO and Shariq Hussain as CIO to build infrastructure and scale operations to meet clinical demand.

No current team members are available.