By Nancy Crotti at Medical Design & Outsourcing
Medical Alley Association member startups pulled in more than $256 million in funding through June, signaling a “relatively normal” first half of the year 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic and battered economy, according to the Minnesota-based trade group.
In total, 40 companies raised $256,406,357 in the first 6 months of the year. The $1.75 million median raise falls behind last year’s record $1.99 million as the second highest median raise for a first half in the last 5 years, indicative of a class of companies that took earlier-stage rounds in previous years and have successfully grown and matured.
The early- and growth-stage medical device sector was responsible for over $213 million in raised funds this year, placing it ahead of traditional competitor clusters like San Francisco, San Diego, New York City, Boston, and Austin, according to a Crunchbase analysis of 2020 medical device raises. Medical device companies that led the pack through June include:
Conventus Orthopaedics, which raised $64.7 million in multiple tranches.
HistoSonics which raised $40.7 million for its non-invasive robotics platform and sonic beam therapy.
Aria CV, which raised $31.7 million for its pulmonary hypertension treatment device.
Cardionomic, which raised $15.8 million for its neuromodulation therapy to treat heart failure.
These companies represent a wide swath of device subsectors, a trend that continues further down the raise total list. Of the 10 largest raises by a Medical Alley-member device company his year, nine seek to solve unique problems across seven different anatomical systems. Cardiology remains an area of particular expertise for the region, but orthopedics and oncology are growing rapidly, as evidenced by sizable rounds in previous quarters for companies like Relievant Medsystems and Vyriad.