US-based blood testing device producer Velano Vascular raised $17m from investors including healthcare providers Sutter Health, Griffin Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia on Tuesday.
The round also featured an undisclosed publicly-traded healthcare company and global supplier, as well as First Round Capital, Kapor Capital, Safeguard Scientifics, White Owl Capital and unnamed angel investors from the health sector.
Velano Vascular has created a disposable device that allows medical staff to draw blood from patients using indwelling peripheral IV lines, which it claims is more affordable than traditional methods such as needle sticks or central line access. The financing will be usd to commercialise the product.
Eric M. Stone, chief executive of Velano Vascular, said: “This level of investment is a tremendous validation of our team’s effort to establish a true, more compassionate standard of care.
“Tens of thousands of Pivo draws across multiple health systems in the US and overseas reflect that there is a better, more efficient way to draw blood. This funding will allow us to meet the growing commercial demand and to touch millions of lives in the years ahead.”
Griffin Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, First Round, White Owl, Kapor and Safeguard Scientifics had provided Velano with $5m in a 2015 series A round. They returned for a $3.5m round in February 2016 that included D-W Investments and various angel investors.