Innovation

Oakland startup Cardiorobotics has closed on a $9 million private round of financing with help of more than a few friends in the Pittsburgh venture capital community.

Pittsburgh-based Eagle Ventures led the round. Co-investors included the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, the Slater Technology fund, a Rhode Island venture capital firm and numerous local private investors. The deal includes $9 million in financing and the conversion of $2.6 million of debt into equity.

Many of the individual investors are savvy business people—a veritable "Who's Who" in the local tech and finance scene—including physicians and cardiac surgeons, says Samuel Straface, CEO. "The fact they're putting their own money into our company is a vote of confidence in our mission."

"Team leadership combined with the state of the system , the market they're pursuing and the breadth of the intellectual property make me feel like this is one of the best financing deals I've ever done," says Mel Pirchesky, president of Eagle Ventures. "There is money here in Pittsburgh and great deals."

The funds will support the further development of the company's revolutionary snake-like instrument for minimally-invasive cardiac surgery, the first method that will allow surgeons to perform heart surgery through a single port of entry, which is faster, safer and will speed patient recovery time.

The technology especially shows promise for the estimated 2 million patients who suffer from atrial fibrillation, or abnormal heart rhythm. Current procedures require either opening the chest cavity or deflating the lungs, says Straface. This method would reduce surgery time to one hour and would be considerably safer, making it a viable option for many patients.

The company, with plans to serve several different specialty areas in addition to cardiac surgeries including abdominal and thoracic procedures, has grown this past year to 13 employees at its Oakland research facility. Business and product development are based in Newport, RI.

While still in the pre-clinical stage, Cardiorobotics expects to begin its first human clinical trial in Europe later this year and is on target for cardiac approvals by 2011.

Writer: Debra Diamond Smit
Source: Samuel Straface, Cardiorobotics; Mel Pirchesky, Eagle Ventures