Stealthy Mountain View, Calif.-based ExploraMed NC4 has raised $18.5 million of an expected $20 million first funding round, I’m told. The medical-device startup doesn’t have a Web site, and doesn’t even seem to have its own address yet.
Instead, ExploraMed NC4 — the name is a placeholder intended to obscure the startup’s strategy — is still housed at ExploraMed, a medical-device incubator backed by New Enterprise Associates, among others. ExploraMed was founded in 1995 by Joshua Makower, an NEA venture partner and a Stanford consulting professor who also co-directs the university’s Biomedical Technology Innovation Program.
Makower confirmed the fundraising, but declined to say what NC4 will be doing. “I love to talk about my companies, but I’ve found there’s virtue in keeping things secret as long as possible from competitors who are just dying to know what we’re up to,” he said. “I’ve learned from experience that if they can get a whiff of what we’re doing, they’ll just copy it.” Makower is not the startup’s CEO, and says ExploraMed will announce NC4’s leader “at the right time.”
Investors in the NC4 round include NEA, Morgenthaler Partners and the Makower Family Trust. Makower said the company is still corralling individual investors who’ve expressed interest in contributing the remaining $1.5 million for the round.
ExploraMed has so far launched five device makers, several of which we’ve covered here at VentureBeat LifeScience. Its most recent companies include Vibrynt, a stealthy device maker that raised $16 million in Aug. 2007, and NeoTract, a Pleasanton, Calif., developer of devices for non-cancerous prostate growths, which raised a total of $21.4 million in its first round.
3 Comments
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Raj Nihalani, MD, RAC(US) said:
Congratulations to ExploraMed.
I like the strategy to “run silent and run deep” and keep your competitors at bay.
I am a founder of a novel medical device technology to treat obesity. I am looking for upto 15 angel investors to put in a min of $100,000 as seed money. This will be utilized to build the prototype, secure the IP, conduct animal studies and do first in man clinical studies. I have lined up a great consultant team. I dont want to release the information on the technology until I have secured the seed money. Do I have the right strategy?I feel this is a great opportunity for an angel investor to get a return on investment of upto 10 times.
By the time we will be ready for our exit strategy the Obesity market will be at its peak.
If any angel investors are interested in investing in this venture should contact me at 001-714-658-3039
or email me at : accessclinicaltrials@yahoo.com
Thank you.Raj NIhalani, MD, RAC(US)
Irvine, Ca
Cell: 001-714-658-3039 -
Mike said:
David,
Good to see you back, even if it is just for a post or two. Any word on VentureBeat finding a replacement for you? -
David Hamilton said:
@Raj: There’s a perfectly good argument to be made against stealth, although it’s entirely possible that it applies more to biotech than to devices. Mostly it’s that letting the news out earlier will attract investors and boost your credibility. In the relatively short time that I’ve been covering startups, I’ve seen lots of device companies embrace the stealth strategy and essentially go dark.
Makower told me he’d like to keep his companies quiet until they’re ready to sell products to the public. For another example of how well this has worked out for another multiple medical-device entrepreneur with Stanford ties, see here.
@Mike, a replacement is up to Matt Marshall. Best to direct your questions to him at matt@venturebeat.com.
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