Holland medical device developer raises more than $21M in capital round

  HOLLAND — Raising nearly $21.6 million gives Shoulder Innovations Inc. the capital needed to scale up operations and bring new products to market.

The Holland-based company — which developed a new generation orthopedic shoulder implant — raised the Series C capital round from 24 investors. They include mostly existing shareholders as well as two California-based venture firms U.S. Venture Partners and Lightstone Ventures, which co-led the round and invested in Shoulder Innovations for the first time.

Other equity round investors were Alumni Venture Partners in Manchester, N.H., Grand Rapids-based Wakestream Ventures, the Biosciences Research and Commercialization Center of Western Michigan University, Invest Michigan in Detroit, and the Michigan Angel Fund in Ann Arbor.

By far the largest capital round Shoulder Innovations ever raised, the funding comes after Shoulder Innovations worked for years to develop and validate a suite of shoulder implant products that last longer and have fewer components. That results in less time in an operating room for implant surgery, reducing the cost and expanding the periods of time before they need replacing.

“The innovations we’ve produced at SI represent a step function improvement in both surgical technique and product design. We’re looking forward to seeing these improvements and the resulting positive impact on patient lives,” said Don Running, the company’s vice president of research and development.

The 10-year-old Shoulder Innovations first introduced its InSet shoulder replacement system in 2016. The implant has since been used in thousands of surgeries throughout the U.S. and “has done phenomenally well,” said Shoulder Innovations Executive Chairman Robert Ball.

The company is now ready to move beyond the development stage and “put our foot on the gas and build out a substantial commercial organization,” Ball said.

“So, the timing is right and our products are ever so nearly ready for full commercialization and we’re ready to build the inventory assets and commercial organization necessary to hyper-accelerate revenue growth,” Ball said. “Our priorities are to expand our commercial footprint in the United States, complete and launch several new products in the United States, and build the operational infrastructure to support a much larger company.”

Contract manufacturers in Southeast Michigan, Indiana and Oregon produce the InSet implant. The company expects to introduce several additional products in early 2021, Ball said.

Shoulder Innovations will continue to use contract manufacturers as it scales up operations.

“Our focus at this moment is not to tamp up internal production, but to remain focused on innovation and commercial expansion,” Ball said. “Our heads are down and we’re fully focused on building a large and valuable company.”

Source

https://mibiz.com/sections/health-care/holland-medical-device-developer-raises-more-than-21m-in-capital-round