Carlsmed Raises $2.5 Million to Improve Complex Spine Surgery

Carlsmed Inc., a San Diego-based medtech company, has closed an oversubscribed $2.5 million seed round. The round was led by Cove Fund II, a prominent California Life Science and Technology fund. Participating in the round are medtech funds Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health and Device of Tomorrow Capital, as well as individual medtech investors.

“We are very bullish about the prospects for Carlsmed,” said Mike Benvenuti, co-manager of Cove Fund II. “Carlsmed’s team has the deep industry experience and operational expertise to lead the much needed shift to personalized medicine for challenging complex spine cases and beyond.”
 
“This round of venture financing accelerates the clinical launch of the aprevo system,” said Mike Cordonnier, CEO and co-founder of Carlsmed. “Surgeons and patients across the spectrum that have postponed treatment for debilitating spinal conditions will soon have access to an affordable and streamlined system for personalized spine surgery.”
 
Carlsmed also announced the appointment of Alexander Arrow, M.D., CFA, as chief financial officer (CFO) and Shariq Hussain as chief information officer, leading the company’s digital development and operations. These two additions to the team are instrumental in building the infrastructure and systems to scale company to meet the clinical demand.
 
Dr. Arrow is a medtech executive with more than 20 years of C-suite and financial leadership roles including CFO of Protagenic Therapeutics Inc., CEO of Zelegent Inc., and president, chief operating officer, and director of Biolase Inc. Dr. Arrow also served as chief medical officer of Stanford-affiliated neuroscience company Circuit Therapeutics Inc., and as CFO of cardiovascular device manufacturer Arstasis Inc. He also spent two years as CFO of the Patent & License Exchange Inc. Prior to joining the medtech industry, he spent nine years in equity research on Wall Street, most recently as head of medical technology research at Lazard Ltd.

Dr. Arrow earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and his bachelor of arts degree in biophysics from Cornell University.
 
Hussain is a serial entrepreneur in the medtech industry. As co-founder, and past CEO and chief technology officer of IntelliGuard, he developed fully integrated hospital inventory management solutions of high value pharmaceuticals. Previously, he led systems integration and cybersecurity for startup Safety Syringes, which resulted in its successful acquisition by Becton Dickinson. Hussain earned his bachelor of science degree in computer science and engineering from University of California San Diego and an M.B.A. from National University.
 
Carlsmed leverages machine Learning technologies and prior outcomes data to personalize the treatment of complex adult spinal deformities. The company’s proprietary aprevo system makes surgical plans and devices tailored to the precise medical situation of every individual patient. Carlsmed is currently incubating at EvoNexus, California’s most successful non-profit startup technology incubator, and is a Connect | San Diego Venture Group 2020 Cool Company.