The Venture Codex

Participated · Seed · Oct 2025

Assistive Technology Development, Inc. (ATDev) is building an integrated mobility ecosystem that blends robotics, wearable technology, and telehealth to support users across the full spectrum of physical ability. Its flagship product, Reflex, is a smart at-home knee-rehabilitation robot designed to deliver high-quality physical therapy without requiring clinic visits. Founded in 2020 as a UC Berkeley spin-out, the Orange, California–based company targets the rapidly expanding market of more than 61 million Americans living with disabilities and an aging population adding 10,000 seniors each day. ATDev positions its solutions as affordable, compact, and modern alternatives to traditional bulky and expensive assistive devices. The team’s long-term vision is to eliminate cost and infrastructure barriers to mobility worldwide. While still pre-revenue figures were not disclosed, the company has now secured seed capital to accelerate product development and commercialization.

Participated · Series A · Dec 2024

TRIO Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company pioneering bispecific antibodies through its proprietary TRAILBody and TIE‑ADC platforms. Its dual‑action therapies aim to directly stop tumor growth while selectively reversing tumor immunosuppression without targeting existing immune checkpoints. TRIO is advancing programs against high‑mortality cancers including multiple myeloma, acute myeloid leukemia, ovarian, endometrial, and triple‑negative breast cancer. The company positions its therapies as potent, less toxic alternatives to conventional treatments and notes its team has developed first‑in‑class FDA‑approved drugs. TRIO will use proceeds to expand preclinical activities and advance its programs toward clinical development. The financing underscores a focus on accelerating development for cancers with high unmet need. TRIO Pharmaceuticals was founded by Purdue University biophysics and structural biology alumnus Shiva Bhowmik, who serves as founder and chief operating officer. The company develops antibody-based therapeutics intended to strengthen the body’s immune response by selectively eliminating immunosuppressive cells and directly targeting cancer cells. TRIO’s approach combines removal of immunosuppressive cells with direct anticancer activity to achieve stronger antitumor immunity. The recent financing is intended to enable TRIO to advance its technology and identify the best drug candidates for further development. Company leadership expects the milestone will open opportunities for collaborations with large pharmaceutical companies and the possibility of raising future funding rounds.

Participated · Seed · Apr 2024

Pelvital USA, Inc. is a women’s health medical device company based in Eagan, Minnesota, led by President and CEO Lydia Zeller. Its first product, Flyte, is an FDA-cleared, novel in-home treatment for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and weakened pelvic floor muscles that delivers mechanotherapy to the pelvic floor. Flyte is reported effective for mild, moderate, and severe SUI, with a typical treatment regimen of five minutes per day for six weeks. The company positions Flyte as a convenient, clinician-backed pelvic floor therapy that can be used outside clinical settings. Pelvital recently closed an additional $2.32M in a seed-plus financing to accelerate commercialization of Flyte. Pelvital, based in Eagan, MN, develops Flyte, an FDA-cleared at-home intravaginal device that delivers mechanotherapy to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and strengthen pelvic floor muscles. Flyte’s mechanism pairs mechanotherapy with an active pelvic floor contraction to stimulate tissue repair and create neuromuscular memory. The device was originally developed by physicians from the Arctic University of Norway with collaborators in gynecology, muscle rehabilitation, and urinary incontinence treatment. Pelvital is led by President and CEO Lydia Zeller. The company recently closed a $2.68M seed funding round, providing capital to complete development of its next-generation product. Management plans to use the proceeds to accelerate commercialization and expand reach to clinicians and women seeking conservative, in‑home SUI treatment.

Led · Seed · Apr 2024

Neurava is a MedTech startup based in Indianapolis developing smart wearable devices that identify and alert for seizures, cardiorespiratory dysfunctions, and impending SUDEP risk. Its diagnostic platform is designed to provide lifesaving monitoring and alerts for people with epilepsy. The company was co-founded by CEO Jay Shah and CTO Vivek Ganesh. Neurava raised $2.26M in Seed funding to advance product development and clinical validation. Management said the funds will allow completion of a pivotal usability study at leading clinical institutions in adults and pediatric patients with epilepsy, set up manufacturing partners, and submit for FDA clearance. The seed round was led by Life Science Angels with participation from UCB, Purdue Innovates, Elevate Ventures, Rivermount Ventures, and First Leaf Capital. Neurava is developing N1, a wearable diagnostic for epilepsy patients and those at risk of SUDEP that records key biological signals and sends wireless alerts to caregivers. The device transmits recorded data to physicians to expedite treatment and management plans. The company emphasizes real‑time monitoring and alerting to give continuous and reliable oversight of impending risk. Neurava says the recently secured funding will support aggressive expansion and will broaden and accelerate product development. Chief Executive Officer Jay Shah played a key role in securing the investment. The company is associated with West Lafayette, IN.

Participated · Equity · Nov 2023

Averto Medical is a clinical-stage medical device company developing the ColoSeal™ intraluminal colonic diversion system to transform gastrointestinal care. Its first product, ColoSeal, enables procedures such as colorectal cancer resection without creating an invasive temporary diverting stoma. Early clinical data have shown promising results addressing a multi-billion dollar market opportunity. The company is led by CEO and founder Kenton Fong and is based in San Francisco. Averto, formerly known as Savage Medical, plans to use the newly raised funds to support growth of clinical testing of ColoSeal toward regulatory approvals. In connection with the financing, Ken Song, MD was named Executive Chairman and Dan Puckett and Bihua Chen joined the board of directors. Savage Medical is a San Francisco, CA–based clinical-stage medical technology company led by CEO Kenton Fong, M.D. The company is advancing the ColoSeal System™, which enables minimally invasive colorectal tumor removal and aims to eliminate the need for two open surgeries in today’s standard of care. Savage Medical intends to use its recent funding to support the ongoing clinical trial of the ColoSeal System. The company has been selected as a UCSF Rosenman Innovator company and a MedTech Innovator company. It has also been the recipient of U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) and U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants. Financially, Savage Medical has raised over $3M in total funding.