REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Nov. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MEDIAN Technologies, a company based in Sophia Antipolis, France, and specializing in the development of software for aid in interpretation of radiological images (Computer Aided Detection/Diagnosis - CAD) for detection, diagnosis and monitoring cancers, today announced the end of its second campaign for bringing in investors, raising an amount of four million euros from AGF Private Equity, Auriga Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson ePlanet Ventures, the prominent United States-based venture capital fund. Through the financing the University of Chicago, MEDIAN’s scientific partner, became a company shareholder.
“We are very happy to enjoy the trust of such prestigious financial partners in our vision, our technology and our team. We are also very proud that the University of Chicago, the acknowledged leader in CAD activity in the world, has acquired a stake in our capital,” said Fredrik Brag, President and CEO of MEDIAN Technologies.
“This financing will enable us to speed up the marketing in the United States and in Europe of our CAD-Lung applications dedicated to lung cancer, and CAD-Colon, dedicated to colon cancer, as well as the strengthening of our teams and the imminent opening of our subsidiary in the USA,” Managing Director Gerard Milhiet commented.
Nicolas Chaudron, AGF Private Equity Investment Director, said, “AGF Private Equity is really excited in financing MEDIAN Technologies and in participating in this venture. All ingredients are present for making the project a success: an extraordinary opportunity to save lives by cancer early detection, a visionary and experienced team, and an ability to mobilize the world’s best experts as of the outset.”
Auriga Partners General Partner Bernard Daugeras, said, “The performance of the MEDIAN technology makes it possible, in particular, to contemplate the systematic detection of such pathologies as lung cancer and cancer of the colon, the two types of cancer that kill the most people. Hence it is an adequate response to a major public health need, shared by all industrial countries, which should guarantee that the company will enjoy rapid and lasting development.”
“DFJ ePlanet’s investment in MEDIAN Technologies underscores our commitment to supporting the development of pioneering medical technologies,” said Dennis Atkinson, Senior Vice President of DFJ ePlanet Ventures. “We are confident that the combination of strong partners coupled with breakthrough technological development will yield positive results for cancer patients around the world, and for the medical industry as a whole.”
“We are pleased to have established a collaboration with MEDIAN Technologies,” says Kunio Doi, Ph.D., Director of Kurt Rossman Laboratories for Radiologic Image Research and Professor at the University of Chicago. “MEDIAN Technologies is cognizant of the critical questions involved in the development of efficient CAD applications and has put in place an excellent development program.”
About MEDIAN Technologies
MEDIAN Technologies company, established at the end of 2002 and based in Sophia Antipolis, France, is a publisher of software for Computer Aided Detection/Diagnosis - (CAD), used for detection, diagnosis and monitoring of cancers. MEDIAN uses the CAD-Platform, its multi-modality and multi-pathology 3D medical imaging treatment platform, and it collaborates with eminent radiologists and clinicians in the United States and in Europe to develop a whole range of innovative CAD software for various imagery procedure and pathological conditions. With CAD-Lung and CAD-Colon, MEDIAN is providing radiologists with vital assistance in facilitating detection and monitoring of lung nodules in thoracic scanners, detection and diagnosis of colorectal cancer on the basis of scanning images of the abdomen, thus markedly improving their productivity.
About DFJ ePlanet Ventures
DFJ ePlanet Ventures is a premier, global venture capital firm founded in 1999 by Asad Jamal in partnership with Draper Fisher Jurvetson to capitalize on the growing trend towards globalization. With over $650 million under management, DFJ ePlanet seeks to provide superior returns to its investors through strategic investments in early and late stage information technology, consumer Internet, medical device and wireless companies globally. DFJ ePlanet operates offices in Redwood City, California, Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Tokyo, and Tel Aviv.
About AGF Private Equity
AGF Private Equity, a subsidiary of the AGF Insurance Company, member of the Allianz Group, is specialized in non-listed investments. The company manages an investment portfolio close to euro 1 Bn, is among the leaders in France in managing funds of funds, and is also one of the most active investors in Venture Capital. The Venture Capital team has invested in 50 high tech companies. AGF Private Equity invests euro 20 M each year in innovative firms. With close to euro 200 M under management in its Venture Capital activity, AGF Private Equity is an active partner of growth companies.
About Auriga Partners
Auriga Partners is an independent technological venture capital company, based in Paris. It invests shareholders’ funds in the fields of information technologies and life sciences, in innovative projects marked by high potential, in their creation or at an early development stage, in Europe, North America and Israel. Auriga Partners now manages three funds for a total of more than 198 million euros. Auriga Partners provides the companies in its portfolio with its advice and know-how in structuring managerial teams, internal organization and the creation of strategic partnerships. http://www.aurigapartners.com/
About University of Chicago Hospitals
Based at the University’s campus in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, the Hospitals are devoted to research, teaching and patient care. Eleven of the University’s 78 Nobel Prize winners were selected for their work in physiology or medicine, and scientists and physicians at the Medical Center have contributed to all fields of biological research.
The Basic Science Section of the Department of Radiology at the University of Chicago is a renowned leader in the improvement of the diagnostic accuracy of radiological imaging. The Section has been a leader in the field of computer-aided detection and diagnosis since the mid 1970’s.
For more information about MEDIAN Technologies, consult: http://www.mediantechnologies.com/
MEDIAN Technologies
CONTACT: Michael Auffret of MEDIAN Technologies, +33.492.38.80.42, orfax, +33.492.38.80.80, michael.auffret@mediantechnologies.com; or MelissaZukerman, +1-323-960-9170, or fax, +1-323-960-9120, melissa@zukermanpr.com,for DJF ePlanet Ventures
Web site: http://www.aurigapartners.com/
Web site: http://www.mediantechnologies.com/