Year in review: 2014 was the year of the medtech IPO

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It was, as predicted, the year of the IPO for medical device companies, with 25 filing initial public offerings during 2014, according to a MassDevice.com analysis.

That’s a dramatic change from 2013, when just 4 companies filed for IPOs, according to VentureSource.

The frothy market isn’t just a win for investors in those newly public companies, because the favorable market conditions can increase valuations on M&A deals and provide another exit pathway for venture capitalists, which could in turn promote much-needed investment in the medtech space.

In 2013, the medical device industry saw just $2.5 billion invested in the space, making it the quietest year medical device investments since 2005.

“For medtech, exits have been phenomenal this year," Matthew Dolan, director of business development for Volcano (NSDQ:VOLC), said recently at our DeviceTalks West event. "We haven’t seen a year like this since, I don’t know, 2007, 2008, somewhere in there."

"If you’re a banker, you’re going around jazzed about how everything has been up probably on average about 30% or 40%, a couple pricing above range for the 1st time in a while and really doing well. I think that window is officially open," added Dolan, who was a banker with the Newport beach, Calif. investment firm Roth Capital Partners before joining Volcano.

Investors ought to be jazzed, too, with the return on their investments. The top 5 IPOs of the year returned a collective 36.3% on their offering prices, led by the largest of the year (see list below).

Nevro Corp. (NYSE:NVRO), which closed its initial public offering in early November with $144.9 million raised from issuing 8.05 million shares at $18 apiece, boasting the year’s top-grossing medical device IPO and its biggest return (90% as of market’s close yesterday). The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company was founded in 2006 and has been led since 2011 by ex-Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) COO Michael DeMane. The company has raised more than $153 million so far from backers including Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Covidien (NYSE:COV), Novo Nordisk and New Enterprise Assoc. A Series C round brought in $48 million last year.

Here’s a look at the Top 5 IPOs this year by gross amount (including any over-allotments), with their share price as of Dec. 9, 2014 and their return on the IPO price:

Nevro Corp. (NYSE:NVRO): $144.9 million, $34.20 (+90.0%)

K2M Group (NSDQ:KTWO): $132.4 million, $19.52 (+30.1%)

TriVascular Technologies (NSDQ:TRIV): $89.7 million, $13.48 (+12.3%)

Sientra (NSDQ:SIEN): $86.3 million, $16.51 (+10.1%)

Ocular Therapeutix (NSDQ:OCUL): $74.8 million, $18.04 (+38.8%)

The boost in IPOs in 2014 was not unexpected; in late 2013 Renaissance Capital predicted a robust year for public offerings.

"We anticipate another dynamic year for the US IPO market in 2014," Renaissance wrote in its annual wrap-up report. "With positive investor sentiment, low volatility levels and improving economic conditions setting the stage for another strong year for U.S. stocks, we expect the US IPO market to remain healthy in 2014."