Sofinnova Partners Announces Two First Investments from its MD Start III Medtech Acceleration Fund
2.7.2020 08:00:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Sofinnova Partners, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm based in Paris, London and Milan, announced today the second investment from its MD Start III Fund, a medtech accelerator that actively works with clinicians and entrepreneurs to develop disruptive medical devices. In May 2019, the fund raised €48 million from key institutional investors and has made two seed investments so far: MastOR and Gradient Denervation Technologies. The most recent investment is in MastOR, a French company leveraging its core expertise in surgical robotics to develop enhanced laparoscopic devices to improve the precision and ergonomics of minimally-invasive surgery. The company was founded in 2019 by a renowned pioneer in laparoscopic surgery, Professor Brice Gayet of the Paris-based Institut Mutualiste Montsouris, and entrepreneur, Pierre Campredon.
“The Sofinnova MD Start team is known for its active, hands-on approach to company building,” said Prof. Gayet. “Their strategic and operational expertise is the perfect complement to the years of research and prototyping we have conducted thus far. Together, we will be able to accelerate the development of this game-changing technology and bring it to its full potential.”
MD Start III also invested in Gradient Denervation Technologies in February. The company is developing a medical device for a transvascular treatment of pulmonary hypertension, based on prior research and intellectual property developed at Stanford University. This has been an important area for MD Start, given its focus on interventional cardiology as a very innovation-savvy and fast-adopting medical community.
“These investments exemplify our mission of transforming innovative ideas into medical realities and backing inventors who are developing disruptive concepts for outstanding medical devices and procedures,” said Anne Osdoit, Partner at Sofinnova Partners. “Our network and partnerships have yielded a rich deal flow pipeline and we are confident in the potential for this fund to continue uncovering first-class devices that address major unmet medical needs.”
About Sofinnova Partners
Sofinnova Partners is a leading European venture capital firm specialized in Life Sciences. Based in Paris, France, with offices in London and Milan, the firm brings together a team of 40 professionals from all over Europe, the U.S. and Asia. The firm focuses on paradigm-shifting technologies alongside visionary entrepreneurs. Sofinnova Partners invests across the Life Sciences value chain as a lead or cornerstone investor, from very early-stage opportunities to late-stage/public companies. It has backed nearly 500 companies over more than 48 years, creating market leaders around the globe. Today, Sofinnova Partners has over €2 billion under management. For more information, please visit: www.sofinnovapartners.com
About MastOR
MastOR SAS is a Paris-based, early stage medical device company, developing a surgical robot for laparoscopy assistance. It is a privately held portfolio company of Sofinnova Partners, financed through the MD Start III Fund. The core technology is derived from joint research between the ISIR robotics lab at Sorbonne University and Professor Brice Gayet, a world-renowned surgeon and pioneer in minimally-invasive surgery. For more information, please visit: www.mastor-surgical.com
About Gradient Denervation Technologies
Gradient Denervation Technologies develops a device-based minimally invasive solution for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension with technology derived from an invention by clinicians from Stanford University. It is a privately held portfolio company of Sofinnova Partners, financed through the MD Start III Fund and based in Paris, France. For more information, please visit: www.gradientdenervation.com
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200701005947/en/
Contact information
Media Contacts:
Bommy Lee
Head of Communications, Sofinnova Partners
blee@sofinnovapartners.com
+33 (0) 6 47 71 38 11
North America
RooneyPartners LLC
Kate Barrette
kbarrette@rooneyco.com
+1 212 223 0561
France
StrategiesImage
Anne Rein
anne.rein@strategiesimage.com
+33 (0) 6 03 35 92 05
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
a2z Radiology AI Receives EU MDR Certification for AI That Detects 182 Findings Across Head, Chest, Abdomen and Pelvis CT12.11.2026 10:00:00 EET | Press release
a2z Radiology AI Inc. today announced that a2z-Drafter has been certified under the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR). The software supports triage, detection and report drafting on CT scans of the head, chest, abdomen and/or pelvis. “Radiology teams have had to piece together separate AI tools for each condition and body region,” said Samir Rajpurkar, co-founder and CEO of a2z Radiology AI. “a2z-Drafter is one product that works on head, chest and abdomen-pelvis CT scans and gives the radiologist a structured starting point for the report. This certification lets us bring that to radiology teams in the European Union.” a2z-Drafter detects 182 validated radiological findings on CT studies of the head, chest, abdomen and/or pelvis, with supplementary attributes for selected findings. The findings span acute conditions such as subarachnoid hemorrhage, midline shift, pneumothorax and bowel obstruction, findings that need prompt workup such as obstructing ureteral stones and aortic aneury
KiddeFenwal Secures A2P System Certification from Centre National de Prévention et de Protection in France12.11.2026 10:00:00 EET | Press release
KiddeFenwal, the global leader in fire protection and safety controls, has received an Assurance Prévention Protection (A2P) System Certification for its NATURA™ inert gas fire suppression system. The designation from France’s Centre National de Prévention et de Protection (CNPP), one of the most respected fire safety testing and certification organizations in Europe, illustrates how KiddeFenwal is expanding the reach of its industry-leading technologies throughout the world with the support of independent, third-party evaluators. “KiddeFenwal is grateful to CNPP for standing behind our proven NATURA™ system,” said Rekha Agrawal, CEO of KiddeFenwal. “The certification enables our systems to protect the facilities and institutions that matter most, such as data centers, battery energy storage systems and power generation applications. This will lead to stronger protections all throughout France.” Since its launch in 2019, KiddeFenwal’s NATURA™ has offered facilities an enhanced means of
Shahrukhz Residences by Danube: Exclusive Gauri Khan-Designed Penthouses Worth USD 5.35 Million Each Sell Out on Launch Day12.11.2026 09:30:00 EET | Press release
Danube Properties unveiled Shahrukhz Residences by Danube, its fully furnished waterfront development in Dubai Maritime City, at a grand launch event on November 11 at Coca-Cola Arena, Dubai, in presence of the Danube Group Founder and Chairman Rizwan Sajan, Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261111982153/en/ Shahrukhz Residences by Danube: Exclusive Gauri Khan-Designed Penthouses Worth USD 5.35 Million Each Sell Out on Launch Day (Photo: AETOSWire) Hosted by filmmaker Karan Johar, the event marked the second collaboration between Rizwan Sajan and SRK. A highlight of the evening was the announcement that all Gauri Khan-designed penthouses, each valued at USD 5.35 Million, had sold out on launch day. Expressing gratitude for the phenomenal response, Rizwan Sajan said, “Shahrukhz Residences is more than a development; it represents our ambition to create homes that bring together exce
Allianz Delivers Record Nine-month Result of 14.1 Billion Euros and Raises 2026 Outlook12.11.2026 08:06:00 EET | Press release
3Q 2026 This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261111915059/en/ Oliver Bäte, Chief Executive Officer of Allianz SE Total business volume at 44.4 billion euros, an internal growth of 3.0 percent1. Excellent contribution from Asset Management and good internal growth in Property-Casualty. Operating profit rises 6.2 percent to 4.7 billion euros, driven by an outstanding result from the Asset Management segment, attributable to higher business volume and margins, and a strong contribution from Life/Health. Shareholders’ core net income increases 1.2 percent to 2.9 billion euros. Adjusted for offsetting measures following the sale of the stake in our Indian JVs, underlying growth is 3 percent. 9M 2026 Total business volume at 143.0 billion euros, an internal growth of 3.8 percent 1 , driven by excellent growth in Asset Management and good internal growth in Property-Casualty. Operating profit rises 7.8 percent to 14.1 bil
LTM Brings AI-Powered Quantum Error Mitigation to IBM Quantum Functions Catalog12.11.2026 07:30:00 EET | Press release
LTM, the Business Creativity partner to the world’s largest enterprises, today announced that AI-QEM, its proprietary AI-powered Quantum Error Mitigation capability, is now available in the IBM Quantum Functions Catalog. With this milestone, LTM becomes the first Global Systems Integrator (GSI) worldwide to publish a function in the catalog. The IBM Quantum Functions Catalog is an ecosystem of partner-built quantum software services that simplify quantum workflows and enable researchers and enterprises to run quantum experiments more efficiently for algorithm development and application prototyping. AI-QEM is available as a circuit function, allowing users of eligible IBM Quantum access plans to apply LTM's error mitigation capability directly within their Qiskit workflows. Quantum computers are inherently susceptible to noise and errors that can impact computational outcomes. While conventional error mitigation techniques often require additional circuit executions, quantum processing
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom