The Venture Codex

Participated · Series D · Sep 2024

CSA Medical develops the RejuvenAir System, a liquid nitrogen spray cryotherapy device intended to treat chronic bronchitis in COPD patients. The company says the technology targets overproduction of mucus and damaged cilia by destroying damaged cells without creating scar tissue, enabling regrowth of healthy airway cells. Led by CEO Wendelin Maners, CSA Medical is preparing a comprehensive commercialization strategy and plans a U.S. launch. The company intends to use the new funds to finance that U.S. launch despite an anticipated premarket approval (PMA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Board additions tied to the financing include Dr. Luc Marengere of TVM and Dr. Deng Mao of Yonjin Ventures. The company positions RejuvenAir as a therapeutic platform for an under-served patient population with chronic bronchitis. CSA Medical develops and manufactures proprietary interventional spray cryotherapy platforms—truFreeze and Rejuvenair—using liquid nitrogen spray delivered by a software‑driven device with specialty catheters to flash‑freeze and destroy unwanted tissue. The company manufactures and distributes the truFreeze system in the U.S., where it is being used in over 100 hospitals and universities to treat conditions such as Barrett’s esophagus, esophageal cancer, and airway obstructions. Its RejuvenAir Metered Cryospray system is designed to ablate mucus‑producing goblet cells while preserving the extracellular matrix and is currently under clinical investigation. Rejuvenair is not yet commercially available as it advances toward clinical and regulatory milestones. Led by Executive Chairman Vincent P. Owens, the company intends to expand commercial adoption of truFreeze in the GI market while progressing Rejuvenair through clinical development. CSA Medical develops the truFreeze spray cryotherapy system that uses super-cold liquid nitrogen delivered via catheter to ablate unwanted tissue inside the body. The company is based in Baltimore. In 2013 CSA raised $16 million in a Series C led by Ascension Ventures, which it planned to use to expand its R&D footprint in Lexington, Mass. CSA is currently pursuing a debt offering targeted at $3.9 million and has raised a little more than $2.9 million to date. The debt offering includes options and warrants and has attracted some 30 unnamed investors so far. Publicly listed backers on the company's website include Ascension, SV Life Sciences, Intersouth Partners, First Analysis, Rose Park Advisors and Blue Heron Capital. CSA Medical develops and manufactures a proprietary interventional spray cryotherapy platform comprised of a device and specialty catheters that deliver extremely cold (-196°C) liquid nitrogen to flash-freeze and destroy unwanted tissue inside the body. The truFreeze System has been used by physicians to ablate tissue in the esophagus and airway and is designed to destroy frozen cells while preserving underlying connective tissue to allow healthy cells to regenerate. The company completed a $16 million Series C financing to support growth and product development. Proceeds will be used to develop new applications, immediately double the sales force, and introduce new products in 2014. The Series C was led by Ascension Ventures and was oversubscribed with all existing investors participating. Tara Butler, MD of Ascension Ventures will join CSA Medical's board, indicating active investor engagement. CSA Medical develops and manufactures the Spray Cryotherapy System, a therapeutic interventional platform that delivers -196°C liquid nitrogen via a device and specialty catheters to freeze and destroy unwanted tissue inside the body. The system is currently used via endoscopic application to treat esophageal disease. Its product is being used at more than 80 top-ranked cancer centers and academic teaching hospitals across the United States. Proceeds from the recent financing will fund post-market clinical studies and ongoing development to support new indications and expanded utilization. Management intends to support the launch of a new platform and pursue new clinical applications, including therapeutic treatments for the airway. The company completed a $20.5 million Series B to support growth and expansion of its patented and currently marketed system.

Led · Seed · Sep 2022

EDJX builds an intelligent Edge OS and computing platform that enables developers to write, deploy, and execute serverless applications at the network edge. Its edge mesh of micro-compute and storage nodes is designed to minimize latency, eliminate backhauling of data, accelerate content delivery, and enable rapid IoT sensor deployment at the far edge. The platform is targeted at real-world edge use cases including industrial IoT, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and robotics. The company emphasizes increased responsiveness and security through decentralized, serverless execution. EDJX recently announced a leadership change with Benjamin Thomas assuming day-to-day CEO duties and joining the board. Financially, the company has raised capital to support growth, including the most recent seed financing. Edjx is an edge computing platform headquartered in San Jose, CA, that powers real-time applications. Its core product routes serverless requests to micro data centers called EdjPods that are placed in close physical proximity to mobile and IoT devices. EdjPods execute serverless functions inside isolated environments to reduce latency and bandwidth limitations at the edge. The platform also enables secure access and recording of data at the edge using blockchain and offers pay-as-you-go pricing for edge computing and blockchain usage. Edjx makes EdjPods available at no cost to qualified commercial, industrial, and municipal organizations, allowing facility owners to earn passive revenue and increase property appeal. The company is led by founder and CEO John Cowan and founder and CTO James Thomason.

Participated · Equity · May 2021

AAD (Advanced Animal Diagnostics) develops rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests and connected data systems for animal and human health. Its QScout line runs on a portable reader and includes animal-side tests such as QScout BLD, which produces results in about 32 seconds to guide antibiotic use and predict mortality, and QScout MLD, which gives 45-second results per gland to detect mastitis. AAD has also developed QScout RLD, a human blood test and has completed a pre-submission filing with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. The company emphasizes One Health objectives to protect human, animal, and environmental health and positions its tests as fast, rugged, cost-effective, and simple to use with minimal training. The announced $7M investment will support commercial expansion of livestock tests and a 510(k) submission to the FDA for human blood tests. AAD is based in Morrisville, North Carolina, and has received recognition as a global finalist in the 2020 Extreme Tech Challenge, a multi-time THRIVE Top 50 Growth-Stage honoree, and an Animal Health Investment Forum winner.

Participated · Series C · Jan 2020

Lyra Therapeutics is a clinical-stage company developing integrated drug and delivery solutions for localized treatment of ear, nose and throat diseases using its proprietary XTreo platform. Its lead product candidates, LYR-210 and LYR-220, are bioresorbable polymeric matrices designed for brief, in‑office administration to deliver up to six months of continuous mometasone furoate therapy to the sinonasal passages. LYR-210 is being developed for surgically‑naïve chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients and is in an ongoing Phase 2 trial; LYR-210 met its primary safety endpoint in Phase 1 and showed clinically meaningful improvement in SNOT-22 scores through week 25. LYR-220 is intended for post‑surgical CRS patients with enlarged nasal cavities who continue to require treatment. The company plans to use recent financing proceeds to advance LYR-210 and LYR-220 and for general corporate purposes. Lyra is also exploring additional applications of its XTreo platform beyond CRS. Lyra Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotech developing medicines that target ear, nose and throat (ENT) diseases using a proprietary transmucosal therapeutic system. Its lead product, LYR-210, is a biodegradable, physician-administered implant that delivers an approved steroid (mometasone furoate) directly into sinonasal tissues for up to six months. In Phase 1 testing LYR-210 was reported as safe, well-tolerated and showed significant improvements in clinical outcomes in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients, including those with and without nasal polyps. The company plans to advance LYR-210 into a Phase 2 study for CRS and to apply its polymeric matrix platform to other ENT indications. Lyra recently completed a $29.5 million Series B equity financing to fund the planned Phase 2 and further development activities. The company changed its name from 480 Biomedical to Lyra Therapeutics and is located in the Boston/Watertown, Massachusetts biotech region.

Participated · Series B · Jul 2016

Azalea Health offers a 100% cloud-based SaaS platform that combines electronic health records with integrated telehealth functionality, revenue cycle management, and mobile health applications. The company highlights lower total costs, shorter implementations, greater configurability, and an improved user experience as core product benefits. Azalea serves ambulatory, inpatient, and specialty care settings, with a particular focus on supporting underserved healthcare providers across the U.S. The company was awarded Best Electronic Health Record Solution at the 2021 MedTech Breakthrough Awards. Azalea says it has been on an upward path of growth and plans to continue scaling and serving its customers. To support that growth, it has secured new financing led by CIBC Innovation Banking. Azalea Health offers a 100% cloud-based SaaS platform that provides electronic health records integrated with telehealth functionality, revenue cycle management, and mobile health applications. The platform targets ambulatory, inpatient, and specialty care settings and emphasizes lower total costs, shorter implementations, better configurability and interoperability, and an improved user experience versus on-premise solutions. Azalea serves rural, community, and urban providers and promotes a “one patient, one record” approach to improve care coordination and outcomes. The company plans to use recently secured capital to complete its acquisition of dashboardMD, adding business intelligence reporting and healthcare analytics to its clinician-friendly EHR. Azalea was awarded “Best Electronic Health Record Solution” in the 2021 MedTech Breakthrough Awards and is backed by private equity firm LLR Partners. Financially, Azalea has obtained a $30 million credit facility from CIBC Innovation Banking to support the acquisition and its continued development, with CIBC also providing tailored financing and treasury management services. Azalea Health offers fully integrated, technology-enabled healthcare solutions and Revenue Cycle Enhancement services for practices of all sizes and most specialties, with a focus on rural and underserved community and critical access hospitals, FQHCs, RHCs, and associated physician practices. Its cloud-based platform includes integrated electronic health records (EHR), practice management, electronic prescribing, interoperability services, personal health records, patient portal, telehealth, and the Azalea M mobile platform integrated with Apple HealthKit, plus Revenue Cycle Performance services. The company says it was the first to fully integrate telehealth capabilities within its solutions and positions its cloud approach to reduce the complexity and cost of EHR technology. Azalea emphasizes delivering tools that provide strong ROI, streamline workflow, and are easy to adopt, aligned with payment reforms focused on outcomes and lower costs. Established in 2008 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Azalea serves customers nationwide and plans to use new capital to advance organic growth and consolidate the market through acquisitions. Azalea Health offers a cloud-based comprehensive records and billing solution for healthcare providers. Its platform includes Electronic Health Records (EHR) with integrated telehealth functionality, Practice Management (PM), and Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) billing services. The company also provides a Patient Health Records Portal, a mobile mHealth application and pre-certification services. Azalea supplies tools and resources to help customers meet Meaningful Use and ICD-10 requirements. Led by CEO Baha Zeidan, the company plans to use new financing to continue growing operations. The report on the financing was published on 04/08/2015. Azalea Health is a health IT company that offers cloud-based admin services for physician practices, including patient portals, billing, and prior-authorization tools. It acquired Atlanta-based EHR provider SimplifyMD last summer and is integrating SimplifyMD’s EHR and practice management software with its own services. Its authorization service checks with insurers to get clearance for procedures on behalf of providers. More than one-third of SimplifyMD customers are already using Azalea services. The company kept more than 60% of SimplifyMD’s staff (mostly the sales team) and plans to use new funding to add staff to support expansion. Azalea plans a Series B this summer to fund additional acquisitions across revenue cycle management, population health, and patient engagement.