Neuspera Medical has secured a $12m extension to bring its series B round to the targeted $26m close, with all investors from the first tranche returning.
Neuspera Medical, a US-based neuromodulation device developer based on research at Stanford University, yesterday raised $12m in additional series B capital to bring the round to its targeted $26m close.
The extension was supplied by 6 Dimensions Capital, an investment firm backed by medical research firm WuXi PharmaTech, together with Action Potential Venture Capital, Windham Venture Partners, Delta Capital, Purple Arch Ventures and unnamed investors.
The same consortium had provided an initial $14m in series B funding in February 2018, though it was not clear at the time that the $26m figure was the target amount rather than a first tranche.
Founded in 2013, Neuspera Medical has developed hermetically sealed implants that are just a few millimetres in size – more than 100 times smaller than conventional neuromodulation devices – and can, for example, be used to pace a heart or treat neurological disease.
Dubbed Mid-Field Powering, the technology uses the body as a natural waveguide to focus electromagnetic waves from a transmitter on the outside of the skin onto the implant, and is able to penetrate bone, fat and muscle. A single transmitter is able to power multiple implants.
The technology is expected to be easier to implant, reducing complications and post-surgical pain.
Neuspera commercialises work by Ada Poon, a principal investigator in Stanford’s Integrated Biomedical Systems department, and her then-PhD student John Ho, who later became an assistant professor at National University of Singapore in 2015.
The additional series B funding will be used to advance Neuspera’s clinical programs. The extension was triggered after the company reached unspecified product development and regulatory milestones.
Neuspera previously obtained $8.9m in a series A round from Action Potential Venture Capital and Windham Venture Partners in 2016, having earlier secured $1m in angel funding.
Milton Morris, president and chief executive of Neuspera, said: “We have been keeping pace with our primary objective to bring forward the beneficial outcomes of neuromodulation treatment to more patients struggling with chronic and debilitating diseases.
“We continue to see broad support and interest in our program as we effort to bring this technology forward to improve patient care and outcomes.”