Fridley based Medical Device Startup Raises $13M

Fridley based Medical Device Startup Raises $13M A Fridley based medical device company with Norwegian ownership has caught investor attention. On Monday, announced that it has landed $13 million in a recent funding. Chairman and CEO Rick Nehm described the raise as “heavily oversubscribed,” meaning the company ended up with more investor dollars than expected.

That’s a rarity in recent history, . Originally founded in Norway in 2015, CardioMech now operates almost entirely in Fridley, where its five full time employees work. The company is developing a medical device designed to treat “degenerative mitral regurgitation,” a prevalent disease where blood leaks between heart chambers due to a faulty valve.

CardioMech’s catheter based device is implanted in patients to stop the leaks and “restore the native anatomy,” according to the company’s website. It’s intended to be an alternative to traditional open heart surgery. “It’s exciting. If the device works as I expect it to, this is going to be a disruptive first line therapy,” Nehm said in a Monday morning interview.

“I believe we have a category defining chordal repair technology.” First, though, CardioMech will need to complete an early feasibility study for the FDA. Nehm said the company is in the process of laying the groundwork for that study now. For now, Nehm said he plans to use the recently raised funds to reduce the company’s burn rate and cover the cost of further product research.

CardioMech closed on the raise in late December. The round included participation from “existing and new investors, including a non disclosed strategic investor.” To date, the company has raised $42 million in total, . CardioMech Inc. is technically a wholly owned Minnesota subsidiary of Norwegian company CardioMech AS.

Nehm, a medical device veteran who signed on as CEO in October 2018, established the subsidiary shortly after he joined. Before his time at CardioMech, Nehm had worked at Boston Scientific, ATS Medical, and Tendyne Holdings. During his time at Boston Scientific, then Norway based CardioMech had approached the medical device giant in search of additional funding to develop its heart valve repair product.

Nehm, who was in charge of building Boston Scientific’s structural heart program at the time, did his due diligence and recommended that the company invest in CardioMech. But Boston Scientific execs declined. “I was alone on that island,” he recalled. That’s when he decided to venture out on his own and invest in CardioMech himself.

Since he took over, the company’s operations have largely shifted to Minnesota. CardioMech also relies on a team of outside engineers and consultants to develop its product. Most of those folks are in Minnesota, Nehm noted. “We have an extensive Minnesota based supply chain,” he said..