Serra Ventures’ SBIC Invests in Medical Engineering Innovations

Champaign, IL – (May 28, 2019) – Madison-based Medical Engineering Innovations, Inc. (MEI), a company that is in the process of developing and commercializing electro-mechanical medical devices initially focused on liver surgery and localized cancers, has received Series A funding from Champaign, Illinois-based venture firm Serra Ventures through its newly licensed Small Business Investment Company (“SBIC”) fund, Serra Capital III (SBIC), LP. The Serra SBIC and its sister fund, Serra Capital III, LP are lead investors in the company’s funding round that closed on $1.4M in total funds. 
 
Rich Schmidt, CEO of MEI, said “We are fortunate to have a strong relationship with the dedicated team at Serra Ventures. Investment from their new fund will provide financial support leading to FDA market clearance on our innovative SwiftBlade System. MEI developed this product with the intention of providing surgeons with an optimized tool that will minimize blood loss and reduce the time required to perform liver resections on primary liver cancer patients. We believe that these benefits will help to improve the survival rates for these patients.”
 
“We are delighted that our new SBIC fund can co-invest with Serra Capital III, LP and others in this promising technology. We are excited about the potential of MEI’s planned products not only from an investment perspective but also for the life-saving impact”, Dennis Beard, Managing Partner at Serra Ventures, commented. “We look forward to the first product introduction to the market as soon as the 510(k) process is completed, expected to be later this year. As a firm supporting the strong tech ecosystems throughout the Midwest, Serra is proud to partner with Madison-based MEI.” 
 
About Serra Ventures, LLC
 
Serra Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm investing in technology companies in emerging Midwest technology centers and selected other geographies. Sectors of focus include information technology, devices/instrumentation and agricultural technologies. The profile of an ideal startup for consideration by Serra is one that has just finished an accelerator program, an Innovation-Corps program or has been through a round of seed funding to establish and prove a strong product-market fit. 
 
Serra Ventures is headquartered in Champaign, Illinois, with additional offices in Chicago and San Diego. Our central Midwest location enables Serra to act local in several Midwest markets. Entrepreneurs know that critical business issues requiring advice are rarely scheduled. Serra’s central location means hands-on work with entrepreneurs at a moment’s notice when they need it the most. For more information, visit www.serraventures.com.
 
About Medical Engineering Innovations, Inc.
 
MEI is focused on bringing new technologies to market that combat cancer with more effective tools for liver surgery and localized cancer treatment by heat (tumor ablation). The company’s technologies combine a proprietary algorithm to control the application of radiofrequency energy to tissue, with enhanced blade electrode geometries to optimize tissue heating.
 
MEI’s technology was developed by University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) researchers and has been benchmark tested in animal studies against current technology. Based upon the results of testing, this platform is intended to offer improvements for reliable coagulation of tissues and blood vessels, and associated improvements for ease of use. These tools are designed to require only a single application of about 6 minutes, which may reduce surgical time, resulting in more cost-effective procedures and better patient outcomes. For more information, visit http://www.mei-america.com.

Contact Information

Dennis Beard

Managing Partner

Serra Ventures, LLC

dennis@serraventures.com