• Axon Therapies

  Participated · Series A · Sep 2025

  Axon Therapies is advancing Splanchnic Ablation for Volume Management (SAVM), a minimally invasive procedure that targets sympathetic nervous system overactivity, a root physiological driver of heart failure. Its Satera™ Ablation System delivers the therapy without leaving an implant, aiming to slow disease progression and improve patient quality of life. The company is entering its next phase of clinical development, funding two double-blinded randomized feasibility studies for both preserved (HFpEF) and reduced (HFrEF) ejection-fraction heart failure populations. Axon plans to progress to pivotal trials following successful feasibility outcomes and views Europe as a strategic expansion market, establishing a new headquarters in the UK to accelerate trial execution there. Leadership was strengthened with the appointment of co-founder Zoar Engelman, PhD, as Chief Executive Officer. The recent $32 million Series A financing brings total capital raised to at least that amount, providing runway for these clinical objectives. No revenue or patient-use metrics were disclosed in the article.

• illumicell AI

  Participated · Seed · Apr 2025

  Illumicell AI builds a portable "lab scanner" and real-time AI platform that analyzes cells and biomarkers in fluid samples within minutes, initially targeting semen diagnostics for male fertility. The company has collected over 400,000 datapoints and generates structured, labeled cell data to enable personalized insights such as lifestyle-linked fertility changes and early decline warnings. Early clinical trials reportedly outperform legacy systems, and the platform is designed to extend beyond semen to fluids like urine and cerebrospinal fluid. The startup plans an FDA submission in 2026 as it advances clinical validation. Founded in 2023 as a Swiss-American company and led by physician and technical co-founders, illumicell AI has been selected by programs including Harvard i-Labs, Creative Destruction Lab, MassChallenge, Techstars, and Keihanna KGAP+. The company raised funding to accelerate development and commercialization of its real-time diagnostics platform.

• Zafrens

  Participated · Series A · Feb 2025

  Zafrens provides a platform that allows scientists to create and test hundreds of thousands of potential medicines in a single experiment. The company has demonstrated the value of its platform through collaborations with several pharmaceutical companies across multiple drug classes. Led by CEO Swamy Vijayan, Zafrens focuses on accelerating drug discovery via its high-throughput experimental platform. The new funding will enable the company to expand its capacity. Zafrens also plans to engage in additional partnerships with pharmaceutical companies worldwide. To date, the company has raised a total of USD 31m. Zafrens is a multi-modality drug discovery company commercializing the Z-Screen™ platform, which scales conventional 96-well experiments to 50,000–200,000 wells with integrated imaging and single-cell multi-omic capabilities. The platform resolves complex cellular co-culture interactions at molecular and functional levels, enabling mapping of large CRISPR, CAR-T, mRNA libraries and endogenous heterogeneity to cell behavior, interactions, and secretions. By combining simultaneous functional and molecular profiling with very large chemical libraries, Zafrens aims to reveal hits, structure–activity relationships, and mechanisms of action in a single experiment, compressing multiple traditional discovery stages. The company is advancing an internal pipeline focused on RNA-modulatory small molecules and HLA-agnostic TCR libraries to common cancer mutations and has demonstrated capabilities in CAR-T optimization and bi-specific antibody discovery. Zafrens seeks partnerships in areas where combinatorial libraries of small molecules, genetic perturbations, and cell–cell interactions could produce breakthroughs and expects its high-resolution datasets to inform drug design and patient selection. Financially, Zafrens closed $23 million in financing to optimize the Z-Screen platform and advance its internal pipeline; the company is based in San Diego, CA.

• CorFlow Therapeutics AG

  Participated · Series B · Sep 2024

  CorFlow Therapeutics is developing the CoFl system to provide timely, accurate detection of microvascular obstruction (MVO) in the cath lab immediately after stent implantation and to enable localized delivery of therapeutics to the microvasculature. The technology integrates with standard guide catheter and wire access and is intended to both diagnose MVO and deliver treatments at the point of care. CorFlow has reported recent data from over 70 patients in its first-in-human MOCA I trial and an extensive preclinical program supporting its approach. The company plans a MOCA II pivotal IDE trial in the US and Europe to validate CoFl against contrast-enhanced cardiac MRI and to support US market clearance. It will also run an adaptive platform therapy study in Europe to evaluate multiple therapeutic agents delivered via CoFl and measure clinical and imaging outcomes up to six months. Headquartered in Baar, Switzerland and founded in 2016, CorFlow is collaborating with academic partners including the University of Bern, ETH Zurich and University Hospital Zurich. CorFlow Therapeutics develops the Controlled Flow Infusion (CoFITM) system and a proprietary dynamic Microvascular Resistance (dMVRTM) concept to detect and treat microvascular obstruction (MVO) in the cathlab. The CoFITM system is positioned as a combined diagnostic and therapeutic technology that enables detection and low-flow infusion treatment of MVO immediately after reopening epicardial arteries. Seed proceeds will finance the First-in-Man MOCA I (MVO with CoFITM System Assessment) safety and feasibility trial in 40 acute heart attack patients. MOCA I will measure peri-procedural dMVR and compare those values to post-procedure contrast-enhanced MRI, and will investigate low-flow infusion of approved therapeutic agents to reduce MVO. The company cites that around 50% of acute heart attack patients develop MVO, translating to roughly 200,000 patients annually, and notes MVO is an independent predictor of heart failure and death. CorFlow has presented nonclinical data at major cardiology meetings (ACC, EuroPCR, ESC) and plans further presentation at TCT; it aims to raise a Series A in 2019 to secure longer-term R&D, clinical, and regulatory activities. CorFlow Therapeutics is developing proprietary technologies to diagnose and treat microvascular obstructions (MVO) in severe heart attack patients. Its technologies aim to enable interventional cardiologists to diagnose and treat MVO, potentially reducing short- and long-term complication rates. The company is led by CEO and co-founder Jon H. Hoem. Headquartered in Baar, Switzerland, CorFlow has raised more than CHF5M in seed funding to date. It completed a CHF 2.6M first close of a Seed+ round to advance clinical development. The company plans to use the funds to finance the 80-patient First-in-Man MOCA (MVO with CoFI™ System Assessment) clinical trial in Europe and intends the Seed+ as the basis for a larger Series A to secure long-term R&D, clinical, and regulatory activities.

• Venova Medical

  Participated · Series B · Sep 2024

  Venova Medical is developing the velocity percutaneous arteriovenous fistula (pAVF) system to create AVFs for hemodialysis access. The velocity system is designed to reduce the need for reinterventions to achieve fistula maturation, improve vascular access outcomes, and lower costs. The company is conducting the prospective, single-center, single-arm VENOS-1 clinical trial (NCT05757726) evaluating the safety and feasibility of the velocity system in patients on hemodialysis. Venova intends to use new funding to support clinical studies of the velocity pAVF system in patients with chronic and end-stage renal disease. The company was co-founded by CEO Erik van der Burg and Shant Vartanian, MD, and recently appointed Darshana Zaveri of Catalyst Health Ventures to its board. Venova is based in Los Gatos, California.

No current team members are available.