BioEnterprise

  

About:  

BioEnterprise is the region's biomedical accelerator. With the assistance of BioEnterprise and its economic development partners, more than 100 Cleveland health care start-ups have raised over $1 Billion in venture investments since 2003. Funding has come from regional and national venture capital firms. With the opening of a number of new venture firms in Ohio, the State now ranks among the top five states in the nation in number of health care venture firms. Based in Cleveland, BioEnterprise's founders and partners are Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, Summa Health System and the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron. 

Fund Support:

$10.9 million

Performance:

BioEnterprise helped establish Northeast Ohio as a global bioscience center. The region's bioscience companies now raise, on average, more than $150 million in venture capital raised annually. Northeast Ohio is now home to more than a half dozen bioscience venture investors. The region is one of the most attractive markets for bioscience venture firms between the coasts.

2011 Update:

  • ViewRay secured $10.3 million in new funding from existing investors. The company is developing MRI-based technology to deliver radiation therapy to cancer patients.
  • Named a winner of SSTI's 2011 Excellence in TBED award, which recognizes organizations that are national models for states and regions investing in science, technology and innovation to grow their economies and create high-paying jobs.
  • Entered into a partnership with the City of Akron and JumpStart to support the newly launched Akro BioInvestments Fund, will target national and international businesses in orthopedics, wound healing, cardiovascular, biomaterials, and health care information technology companies.
  • Israeli medical device company Nervomatrix raised a $3.5 million series A and selected Akron for its North American sales and marketing headquarters.
  • Assisting new venture group Cleveland BioFund in identifying and supporting opportunities for revenue-stage US medical device companies looking to enter the China market, and Chinese medical device companies looking to enter the US market.
  • Seven Cleveland area healthcare companies - Quality Electrodynamics (QED), PartsSource, Tradex International, Cambridge Home Health Care, Home Instead Senior Care, Alpha Imaging, and MobilityWorks  - were named to the 2011 Inc. 500/5000 list. 
  • ChanRx, a Cleveland biopharmaceutical company, closed a Series A round led by Austin-based Santé Ventures.  Funds will be used for a Phase IIb clinical study of the company's intravenous formulation of vanoxerine, an anti-arrhythmia drug.
  • Israeli diagnostic imaging company Medic Vision is evaluating options for its U.S. sales and marketing headquarters after raising a $3.5 million round of funding led by a Cleveland investment group. 
  • Cleveland-based Aris Teleradiology, a provider of outsourced radiology services, secured a growth equity investment from Connecticut-based Great Point Partners to support sales and marketing, infrastructure and personnel expansion.
  • Regenerative medicine company Athersys has entered into a $20 million equity agreement with Aspire Capital to  advance the company's MultiStem® products through clinical development.
  • Cleveland HeartLab Inc. has secured an $18.4 million investment that will help the company expand its employee base, its product lineup and its physical footprint. Boston-based Excel Venture Management and HealthCare Ventures led the investment. The company has developed a blood test to help physicians determine whether a patient is at risk of a heart attack or other cardiac problems. Cleveland HeartLab is planning to locate its new headquarters in Cleveland's “Health-Tech Corridor.”
  • Northeast Ohio healthcare companies received $50.2 million in venture capital in the first half of 2011 according to the BioEnterprise Midwest Healthcare Venture Investment report.
  • Fund member The Burton D. Morgan Foundation awarded BioEnterprise a $200,000 grant for the Business Development and Entrepreneurial Assistance program and the Business Associates
    •    internship program.
  • Baiju Shah was named to the Board of Directors of Invacare Corporation. 
  • The BioOhio 2010 Growth Report, co-authored by Cleveland State University, shows that since 2000, Ohio's 1345 bioscience employers have added 10,222 jobs, a 19.5% increase.  Northeast Ohio continues to be the state's hub of bioscience activity, leading in number of locations (714), direct employment (21,427), growth in new companies (189 since 2004), and direct economic output ($14 billion).
  • Israeli medical device company IceCure Ltd. raised more than $10 million in an initial public offering on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
  • Cleveland-based Lexi-Comp, a global provider of drug information and clinical content for pharmacists and clinicians, has been acquired by Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for professionals, students and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health and pharmacy. The acquisition will enable Wolters Kluwer to strengthen its leading position in the clinical decision support and point-of-care information segments and will provide its customers with a more robust drug information and clinical content offering. 
  • Explorsys raised $11.5 million in a Series C financing led by Austin Ventures and Foundation Medical Partners; Santé Ventures and Cleveland Clinic. Funds will be used to double the company's workforce and triple the size of its existing server complex.
  • Baiju Shah, president of BioEnterprise, comments on state and federal government support of job creation efforts in a Plain Dealer story. 
  • BioEnterprise President Baiju Shah, as Chairman of the Global Cleveland Initiative, comments on the grand opening of the city's international welcome center. Read more on Cleveland.com.
  • The Midwest Health Care Venture Investment Report, BioEnterprise's annual report now available, indicates that $135.1 million was invested in 33 companies last year -- double the amount from 2009.
  • BioEnterprise 2010 highlights include: $132 million invested in 27 companies, attracted 64 national investors in regional companies and achieved six exits.
  • Radisphere National Radiology Group, a Cleveland-based teleradiology company, completed a $27.5 million Series C round.  Maverick Capital of New York led the round and was joined by existing investor, Oak Investment Partners of Connecticut.  The company, which has more than 250 clients, will use the funds to expand the company's technology infrastructure.
  • FMI Technologies, a diagnostic imaging company based in Akron, has attracted $18 million from Chinese investors to be used to further develop the company's imaging devices.  The investment was facilitated by the City of Akron.
  • Thermalin Diabetes, a Case Western Reserve University spin-out, has raised a $2.2 million Series A round led by JumpStart Ventures and joined by angel investors.  The Cleveland-based company is a developer of insulin analogs. 
  • TheraVasc, a biopharmaceutical company that is moving to Cleveland, has raised $1.8 million from existing investors JumpStart Inc. and Portal Capital, and new investors North Coast Angel Fund, Ohio TechAngels and Physician Investment Group.  The investment will be used to fund clinical trials of the company's reformulated sodium nitrite in treating peripheral artery disease.
  • Cleveland orthopedics firm, RSB Spine, raised $1.5 million in an equity investment from private investors.  The company will use the funds to increase production of its InterPlate device to keep up with rising demand.
  • Mork Process, a Cleveland-based industrial sterilization and cleaning company, raised $1.4 million of an expected $2 million funding round.  Previous funding of $3 million came in 2008 and was led by Mutual Capital Partners and Reservoir Venture Partners.