PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania — Cardiorobotics, which is developing a snake-like probe to perform minimally invasive heart surgery, has raised $11.6 million from a collection of largely Pennsylvania-based investors.
The money will start human trials on the device, called CardioARM, and complete a commercial product to be submitted for both U.S. and European approvals. Cardiorobotics thinks its slender, winding robot that remembers its path through the body can by used in an array of surgical procedures. Its CardioARM technology could be used in up to 1 million cardiac procedures a year, including ablations.
Eagle Ventures led the round, along with previous investors Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse and Slater Technology Fund. The Greenhouse’s mission is to support Pittsburgh-area medical companies, and Cardiorobotics is based in Rhode Island. However, the technology was created at Carnegie Mellon University, and the company started in Pittsburgh. It still maintains a research operation in Pennsylvania.
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The company beat the fund-raising doldrums thanks in large part to Eagle Ventures CEO Mel Pirchesky, who gathered funds for Cardiorobotics from 61 angel investors, according to The Pittsburgh Business Times.
“Although the stock market meltdown eliminated half the people I would ordinarily contact to make an equity investment, I found there was a significant number of them who continued to get cash flow in and didn’t want to put their money in the stock market,” said Eagle Ventures CEO Mel Pirchesky. “They were looking for a great investment opportunity, and that’s what Cardiorobotics is.”
Craig Gomulka, a director of Downtown-based venture capital firm Draper Triangle Ventures, said he has seen more activity locally from angels, but would not “draw any conclusions or trends” from Cardiorobotics’ financing round.
“(Pirchesky) has done a great job of using his Rolodex and going out and selling a deal to a number of high-net-worth individuals,” Gomulka said.
Cardiorobotics has planned for some time to start trials this year and hopes to submit its device to U.S. and European regulators by next year. In March (pdf), the company hired Dr. Samuel Straface as its permanent president and chief executive officer. Straface had been its executive-in-residence through the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse. Previously, he founded the oncology nanobiotechnology company Triton BioSystems and has worked at Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson.
