Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is one of the top life science law firms on the left coast, with a strong focus on start-ups. Their “Life Sciences Report” is required reading for start-up medical device execs. This quarter’s report includes a great article on Negotiating Corporate Strategic Investments. Well worth reading. Check it out here.
I’m fortunate to live in one of world’s great medical device hubs, so I hope you’ll forgive this unabashed promotion. Massachusetts is home to hundreds of innovative medical device companies, and we are well known as a source of med-tech start-ups. What’s less known is that Massachusetts is the best place for European and Israeli companies to set up their US operations.
Andover Massachusetts (population 33,201) is practically the United Nations of medical devices, hosting Switzerland-based Straumann, Netherlands-based Philips, Germany’s Draeger Medical, and UK’s Smith & Nephew.
Last year, Syneron merged with Candela in Wayland MA, becoming the largest Israeli medical device company in New England. Israeli start-up Odin Medical located its US HQ in MA prior to its acquisition by Medtronic, and Israeli start-up rcadia has their HQ in Newton, MA. EarlySense is the most recent Israeli company to locate here.
Ireland-based Creganna, a leading provider of medical device contract R&D, set up its first US location in Massachusetts and later expanded to locations in California and Cleveland. Ireland’s Shimmer Research, designer of new devices for wearable health sensing, set up their US operations in Boston.
I’d love to see more European and Israeli companies set up shop here. If you are developing a great new medical device outside the US, and thinking about entering the US market, you should be thinking about Massachusetts. Here’s why.
Continue reading “Bringing your medical device to the U.S.? Start in Massachusetts”
Every venture firm claims to be looking for great companies to support. The reality is that many have no money for new investments, having reserved their remaining cash for their current portfolio.
How can a medical device entrepreneur find the firms that have the capacity for new investments? How can an entrepreneur find fresh money? Wouldn’t it be great if someone created a list of life science venture capital firms that have recently raised money?
Continue reading “Life Science Venture Capital Fundraising List”
According to the Boston Globe, the top New England venture-funded sector in Q1 2011 was medical devices and equipment, at $145 million. That’s great news and a testament to the local medical device innovation economy.
On the other hand, life science venture capitalists in New England closed no new funds in Q1. That’s not great news. There has been some fund-raising activity, so we can hope for a better Q2. In fact, Bessemer Ventures closed a $1.6B fund in early April, which will include medical devices as a target investment sector, so Q2 is off to a good start.
If you’re raising money, you should know which life science funds actually did raise money in Q1 2011. How do you find out? Continue reading “Fresh Money: 2011 Q1”
Jay Caplan on Medical Devices 