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Yogesh Oka's EADevices eyes $5M Series A
By siliconindia
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Tuesday, 03 August 2004, 19:30 IST
MUNHALL: EADevices, a developer of minimally invasive surgical and related procedures, is raising $750,000 in seed capital, Chief Executive Josh Gerlick told VentureWire.
Gerlick hopes to close the round in two months and said "a substantial portion of the target has already been issued." He did not disclose specific investors but said angels and economic development organizations have expressed interest in the company.
In addition, EADevices will begin raising $3 million to $5 million in Series A capital in January to close by mid-year, Gerlick said.
Proceeds from both rounds will be used primarily to further product development efforts as well as to establish a sales and marketing team and to implement training programs for doctors using the company's devices, Gerlick said.
EADevices is developing EANeedle, a device that combines an energy-assisted and guided-action handheld device with interchangeable needles for biopsy procedures. Using a circular ultrasonic energy generation platform, it enables doctors to perform biopsy procedures in areas that are traditionally considered high-risk. Initial target markets include breast and lung biopsies.
As a result of the round, a representative agreed upon by the seed investors will join the board as an observer. The board includes Gerlick; COO Yogesh Oka; and Art Boni, the deputy director of Carnegie Mellon University's Donald H. Jones Center of Entrepreneurship.
Gerlick describes the EADevices technology by saying, "If you think of a bowl of Jell-O with a grape suspended in it, it is difficult to poke the grape with a toothpick." Similarly, it is difficult for a needle to penetrate a high density mass in low density tissue, he said. But the EADevices product works "like a hot knife through butter."
Gerlick said the company targets the breast market because it is the largest and the lung market because lung biopsies are dangerous to perform and so the market is underrepresented. The devices qualify for 510k clearance and so Gerlick expects to have the needles on the market by 2007.
Johnson & Johnson's Mammatome breast biopsy system is a big player in the market, and Gerlick said both companies see EADevices technology as a natural extension of the already-marketed product and said one of many possibilities is a product development or a distribution partnership.
Gerlick said investors are interested in targeting the market in China and EADevices will begin selling in Europe "sooner rather than later," meaning roughly 2006.
The company is working with several alpha prototypes in animal models and will move forward with beta testing in early-to-mid 2005, he said. Additional biopsy markets include orthopedics and veterinary care, Gerlick added.
The Munhall, Penn.-based company spun-out of Pittsburgh-based Medrad Inc., a dye injector company, in August 2003. EADevices has 6 employees and will grow to 10 by October in sales and marketing, Gerlick said.