The Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world, today announced the TMC Venture Fund, a $25 million initiative designed to support technologies and early-stage companies to flourish in Houston’s health care ecosystem and further the TMC’s mission to advance health, education and research.
The Texas Medical Center unveiled plans for the TMC Venture Fund to an audience of more than 600 investors, hospital stakeholders, advisors and members of Houston’s innovation ecosystem who are gathered for TMCx Demo Day.
“The TMC Venture Fund is a quintessential example of the Texas Medical Center’s ongoing commitment to driving collaboration across our medical city and further establishing Texas as the third coast of life sciences in the United States,” said Bill McKeon, Texas Medical Center President and Chief Executive Officer.
The TMC Venture Fund Board of Directors includes members of the TMC Board and management. Companies interested in applying for funding will find an application on the TMC Venture Fund website. Recipients will be selected by a TMC Venture Fund Investment Committee, whose members all share expertise, passion and experience in shepherding early-stage technology companies into next-generation services and products.
The TMC Venture Fund Investment Committee is comprised of Chair Bill McKeon, Texas Medical Center President and CEO; Barbara Bass, M.D., Houston Methodist Hospital; Juliana Garaizar, Houston Angel Network; Erik Halvorsen, Ph.D., TMC Innovation Institute; Bernard A. Harris, Jr., M.D., Vesalius Ventures; Chester J. Koh, M.D., Texas Children’s Hospital; Adam Kuspa, Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine; Larry Lawson, GOOSE Society; Tom Luby, Ph.D., JLABS @ TMC; and Ferran Prat, Ph.D., J.D., MD Anderson Cancer Center.
The TMC Venture Fund will help accomplish one of the key tenets of the Texas Medical Center Strategic Plan by transforming innovative ideas into tangible solutions for improving heath. The fund will provide monetary resources to young startups in the health care space with a nexus to Houston and the Texas Medical Center. These early, but critical-stage, investments heighten companies’ chances of receiving additional funding and long-term success.
“I am delighted that the Texas Medical Center continues to execute on a strategic plan that represents the shared vision of our board of directors and the leadership of our member institutions,” noted Texas Medical Center Chairman O. Holcombe Crosswell. “We want this fund to give young companies the resources they need to grow the health care ecosystem in Houston and, ultimately, advance patient care.”
The TMC Venture Fund Investment Committee has selected the following 2017 recipients:
- ALLEVIANT: Alleviant Medical is focused on developing a novel minimally-invasive device to treat congestive heart failure. Their proprietary technology is designed to relieve heart failure symptoms, improve quality of life and reduce hospital admissions for more than 16 million patients currently suffering from this disease in the U.S. and abroad.
- BRITESEED: Briteseed is commercializing a new class of smart surgical tools that have artificial-vision assistance to help surgeons quickly identify landmarks and safely navigate vital structures. These multifunctional tools have the benefit of cautery, dissection and optical tissue sensing in a single package.
- CNSDOSE: CNSDose uses advanced genetic technology to fast-track finding the right antidepressant and dose. Genetically guided prescribing via CNSDose results in a 2.5 times greater likelihood of remission, which means faster recovery, reducing suffering and cutting costs that result from trial-and-error prescribing.
- MEDABLE: Medable is transforming health care by providing an enterprise platform for “Direct-to-Patient” clinical care and clinical trials, enabling patient-generated data to drive health care delivery, research and personalized and predictive medicine.
- NONINVASIX: To reduce the incidence of neonatal mortality and morbidity, Noninvasix is developing a patient monitor to directly, accurately and noninvasively measure brain oxygenation in premature babies in the neonatal intensive care unit. Real-time brain oxygenation monitoring will allow doctors to intervene before neurological function is permanently compromised.
“The TMC Venture Fund is another step forward in TMC’s creation and cultivation of a life sciences hub that will be based in Houston, the most diverse city in the nation,” McKeon concluded.
Source: Texas Medical Center Announces $25 Million TMC Venture Fund – TMC News
