Velano Vascular said today that it raised another $3.5 million for its needle-free blood draw device.
San Francisco-based Velano said it plans to use the proceeds from the round to further develop and commercialize the device.
Prior backers First Round Capital, White Owl Capital, Kapor Capital, Safeguard Scientifics, Griffin Hospital, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and “a number of health industry veterans” joined the round, the company said. New investors included ex-Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX) chairman & CEO Ed Ludwig, “individual members of the Medline leadership team,” Oscar S. Schafer, Qosina founder Stuart Herskovitz and D-W Investments, Velano said.
“We are honored that both industry veterans and hospital and institutional investors are actively helping expand the development and commercialization of our novel blood draw technology,” co-founder & CEO Eric Stone said in prepared remarks. “We continue to identify partners who understand the need for our technology and the potential for it to become the new standard of care.”
A new iteration of the Velano device, which is designed to reduce the number of blood draws for hospitalized patients by temporarily re-purposing peripheral intravenous catheters, won 510(k) clearance from the FDA last month. The company said it’s planning to investigate a pediatric version of the device with a pilot program later this year. Velano raised a $5 million Series A round last year.
“Velano Vascular has created a technology with the potential to dramatically improve the quality of inpatient blood draws, and the company is bringing their innovation to the market in a very thoughtful and deliberate way,” Ludwig added. “Based on progress to date, as well as the market and product development activities currently underway, I am confident that this investment can have a significant impact in establishing a new and better standard of care.”
Velano also said it named ex-Smiths Medical executive Quintin Farrar to be vice president of manufacturing & operations.
