Ascension Ventures, the venture capital representative for several health systems including Ascension Health, led a $77m funding round for US-based neuromodulation device manufacturer Cala Health on Tuesday.
The round also featured Peak6 Strategic Capital, Innovatus Capital Partners, Dolby Family Ventures and all the company’s existing investors, which include pharmaceutical firms Novartis and Johnson & Johnson, internet technology group Alphabet and chipmaker Qualcomm.
Cala produces wearable devices that regulate nervous system activity to treat conditions like essential tremor by stimulating peripheral nerves. It will use the cash to expand into other conditions such as Parkinson’s and disorders related to cardiology, psychiatry and autoimmune disorders.
The company raised $50m in a mid-2019 series C round backed by DRx Capital, which was launched by Novartis and Qualcomm, in addition to Alphabet’s GV unit and Johnson and Johnson Innovation – JJDC, which invested on behalf of Johnson and Johnson.
LifeSci Venture Partners, TriVentures, Baird Capital, Lux Capital, Lightstone Ventures and Action Potential Venture Capital rounded off the participants along with unnamed others.
DRx Capital, GV and JJDC all took part in Cala’s $18m series A round in 2016, as did Action Potential Venture Capital, Lux Capital and Lightstone Ventures. Its technology is based on research at Stanford University.
