WILMINGTON, Del. and GALWAY, Ireland, June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Cappella, Inc. (Cappella) announces today that it has completed a $17.3 million Series C investment, led by new investors, Fountain Healthcare Partners and Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners (MCVP). Enterprise Ireland also participated in this round alongside Cappella’s existing investors, Polytechnos Partners and ACT Venture Capital.
Proceeds will be used to finance the launch of Cappella’s proprietary Sideguard(TM) Sidebranch stent for the treatment of Bifurcated Vascular Disease in Europe and to advance key R&D programs in Galway on additional applications of Cappella’s technology in Complex Coronary Artery Disease (CAD).
Commenting on this financing, Dr. Art Rosenthal, Cappella’s recently appointed CEO, said “This funding will allow us to expand our pipeline, to supplement on-going clinical studies and to successfully launch our first product, the Sideguard(TM) Sidebranch stent. We believe our proprietary products will treat many types of bifurcation disease, including Left Main Bifurcation Disease. In 2008, this was a $1.0 billion worldwide market and it is growing annually.”
Dr Rosenthal previously served as Chairman and CEO of Labcoat Ltd. and as Chief Scientific Officer of Boston Scientific Corporation. Cappella has also appointed additional senior management to lead European sales and manufacturing activities.
Dr Ena Prosser of Fountain Healthcare Partners commented: “We are delighted to invest in Cappella at a very strategic point in the company’s development. From our perspective, Cappella have a differentiated product offering for the treatment of coronary heart disease. Cappella’s impressive management team and top-class scientific advisory board will drive rapid adoption of the Sideguard(TM) Sidebranch stent in Europe and its successful clinical development in the US.”
Masashi Kiyomine, Principal at Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners, commented: “We are very pleased to have co-led this important round of financing for Cappella, to support the global commercial success of the Sideguard(TM) Sidebranch stent. With an experienced management team led by Dr. Rosenthal, we believe Cappella is ideally positioned to become the leading provider of innovative solutions for the treatment of bifurcation vascular disease - an area of high unmet medical need.”
Dr Wolfgang Oster, Managing Partner at Polytechnos Venture Partners and Chairman of Cappella’s Board, noted: “As founding investors of Cappella, we are delighted to close this substantial round of finance for a company which we believe has the potential to lead the field of bifurcation devices. The commercial expertise which the new investors bring to the table in Europe, US and Japan is reassuring and will help to accelerate the company’s marketing efforts of its device portfolio. Importantly, the continued participation of our syndicate partners, in particular ACT Venture Capital, in our common cause was a prerequisite to get the company to this exciting value inflection point.”
In addition to Dr. Wolfgang Oster, Dr. Art Rosenthal and Dr. Ena Prosser, other Board seats will be held by Masashi Kiyomine, MCVP, Dr. Ascher Shmulewitz company co-founder, Cappella’s Vice Chairman Charlie Glass of ACT Venture Capital and Dirk Kanngiesser, Polytechnos Venture Partners.
About Cappella Inc
Cappella, Inc. (“Cappella” or the “Company”) is a medical device company that is developing novel solutions for the treatment of Complex Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) and specifically bifurcation vascular disease. The Company’s initial product is the Sideguard(TM) Sidebranch stent. This technology addresses an unmet medical need in CAD. The company was founded in 2004 by Antonio Columbo, M.D., Chief of Invasive Cardiology at San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, Italy, and Ascher Shmulewitz, M.D., Ph.D., a cardiologist, medical device entrepreneur and founder of NeoVision, Xcardia and Labcoat Ltd., and established its headquarters in Galway, with the backing of Polytechnos Venture Partners and ACT Venture Capital. The Sideguard(TM) Sidebranch stent is an anatomically shaped self-expanding coronary stent that utilizes a unique peel-away delivery system. Both the stent and this delivery system were developed by Cappella Medical Devices Ltd. The unique delivery technology overcomes a number of delivery problems associated with existing nitinol stents, including reduced profile and improved placement accuracy over traditional delivery systems. Cappella Medical Devices Ltd., Galway, Ireland is the R&D and manufacturing subsidiary of Cappella Inc. For more information please see http://www.cappella-med.com/
About Fountain Healthcare Partners
Fountain Healthcare Partners (“Fountain”) is a life science focused venture capital fund headquartered in Dublin, Ireland with a second office in New York, US. Fountain specialises in making investments in biotechnology, medical device, specialty pharma and diagnostic companies and allocates the majority of its capital to Europe with a primary emphasis on Ireland. Fountain launched its inaugural fund (Fountain Healthcare Partners I) in May 2008 with euro 75M in committed capital. www.fh-partners.com
About Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners, Inc.
Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners (MCVP) is a provider of early stage venture capital with expertise in helping U.S. start-up companies build their businesses in global markets. Over the years, MCVP has invested in breakthrough technologies and accelerated the growth of companies across the life sciences, medical devices, communication, software, information technology and cleantech industries. Located in New York, Silicon Valley and Tokyo, MCVP currently manages over $280 million in capital. For more information about MCVP, visit www.mitsuiventures.com/en/
About Polytechnos Venture Partners
PolyTechnos Venture-Partners is an independent European Venture Capital firm focusing on early stage Information Technology and Life Science investments, predominantly in Europe. Areas of expertise comprise Information Technology (communications & networking, electronics & computer hardware, and semiconductors) and Life Science (drug development & medtech), as well as opportunities arising from the convergence of these fields. PolyTechnos currently advises funds totaling approximately EUR 200 million. www.polytechnos.com
About ACT Venture Capital
ACT Venture Capital is one of Ireland’s leading venture capital firms. Founded as an independent operation in 1994, ACT has raised over euro 350m for investment in growing Irish companies, sourced from American, European, Irish and UK institutions and since then has completed over 70 investments, principally in technology based companies serving global markets. ACT’s current portfolio of more than 20 companies comprises many Irish success stories in the Information and Communications Technology and Healthcare sectors.
About Enterprise Ireland
Enterprise Ireland is the government agency responsible for the development of Irish industry. Its core mission is to accelerate the development of world - class Irish companies to achieve strong positions in global markets resulting in increased national and regional prosperity. www.enterprise-ireland.com
