SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Tibion Corporation, the privately held Silicon Valley firm transforming stroke rehabilitation with its robotic Bionic Leg, announced today the successful closure of a $10.175 million financing round, a new board of directors, and a new board chairman.
“This new financing is an affirmation of our efforts to increase the availability of our technology to the more than 3 million stroke survivors who cannot walk or walk well after a stroke,” explains CEO Charles Remsberg, who assumed leadership of the Sunnyvale firm just over a year ago.
According to the CDC, more than 300,000 stroke survivors each year cannot walk or walk well, adding to a pool of more than 3 million chronically disabled by stroke. Therapists using the Bionic Leg claim unprecedented clinical benefits, often from the first session.
“The new financing will enable us to accelerate roll-out of the new interchangeable battery version of our wearable gait-rehabilitation robot, and to expand our sales and marketing programs,” Remsberg said.
Financing enables expansion of revolutionary stroke rehab device
Most stroke survivors experience upper and lower extremity weakness on the side of their body opposite the brain hemisphere in which the stroke occurred. The Tibion Bionic Leg provides the assistance and resistance required by a stroke survivor’s weakened leg, enabling the repetitive sit-to-stand, overground walking and stairclimbing exercises to promote the “brain re-wiring” believed necessary for gait recovery.
Leading the recent financing round were Three Arch Partners, Portola Valley, CA, and Hambrecht & Quist Capital Management, Boston.
“We ended 2010 with a significant surge in Bionic Leg placements, broadening our installed base to include innovative skilled nursing facilities and free-standing physical therapy clinics,” Remsberg noted.
“Several of our earliest customers, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, have ordered second and even third Bionic Legs, to handle the demand for its superior outcomes,” he said. “The new financing will enable us to ramp up production and support to help them meet that demand.”
Lindholm new board chairman, Wang and Omstead join board
In addition to reporting the new financing, Tibion announced appointment of board member Randy Lindholm as chairman of the board. Mr. Lindholm is a widely recognized advisor to and on the boards of numerous medical device companies. Mr. Lindholm has served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of VidaMed, Inc., which was sold to Medtronics.
“I’ve been pleased to participate in the past year’s reorganization of Tibion under new leadership, with the support of a very involved board and first-round investors,” Lindholm said. “With the new financing, we see the opportunity for Tibion to fundamentally change how stroke patients are rehabilitated worldwide.”
Joining Remsberg and Lindholm on the Tibion board will be Conrad Wang, principal at Three Arch Partners, and Daniel Omstead, PhD, CEO at Hambrecht & Quist Capital Management, as well as current investor John Steuart, managing partner at Claremont Creek Ventures.
Tibion Corporation
Tibion is a privately held company developing innovative equipment that can help individuals recover physical function lost due to disease, trauma or aging.
The company began marketing the Bionic Leg in January 2010. Customers span the U.S. For additional information, visit www.tibion.com and www.onstroke.org.
