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Corporate VCs Step Up Carefully to Fill VC Void

As institutional venture firms gird themselves for difficult times ahead in raising new funds, investment programs at pharmaceutical companies and large medical device companies are at least partially filling the gap by committing corporate dollars into private life sciences companies, even in earlier stages.

When Entellus Medical Inc. set out to raise its Series E financing, the company solicited offers from both institutional and corporate investors, looking for the capital necessary to sell its line of products used in ear, nose and throat procedures. ( See "Entellus: Helping The Interventional Revolution Balloon In Sinus Therapy," IN VIVO, June 2011 Also see "Entellus: Helping The Interventional Revolution Balloon In Sinus Therapy" - In Vivo, 1 June, 2011..) Guido Neels, managing director at Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, declined to give details on the financing but said Covidien Ventures, the corporate arm of Covidien Ltd., beat out both institutional and corporate investors looking to lead the financing. Covidien Ventures led the $35 million Series E investment with the participation of prior investors Split Rock Partners, SV Life Sciences and Greenspring Associates. [See Deal]

Corporate venture programs clearly are playing a larger role in the ecosystem of early-stage life science companies. As institutional venture...

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In Partnership with Cerba Research

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