News
With the price point advantages this subsidiary enables, VerAvanti is positioning for a highly competitive market launch of its innovative SFE device.
"...'We felt that we’d have more staying power … without the rigors of the VC model,' said Gerald McMorrow, VerAvanti’s founder and CEO. McMorrow, who holds a master’s in electrical engineering from the University of Washington, said he wanted to focus on long-term research and development, not on turning a profit as soon as possible. McMorrow personally put $12 million into VerAvanti, he said."
REDMOND, WA (August 8, 2017) – VerAvanti, a developer of a new class of scientifically-advanced solutions to help physicians find answers to treat strokes and heart attacks that often strike without warning, is leveraging deep industry ties from its founding team, to build a highly experienced and industry-recognizable board, clinical advisors, and leadership team to strategically guide the company as it readies for a planned 2018 market launch, pending FDA 510(k) premarket clearance.
Quietly in late May, VerAvanti, a developer of a new class of scientifically-advanced solutions to help physicians find answers to treat strokes and heart attacks that often strike without warning, emerged from stealth mode when it announced a Reg D Filing to raise $5 million. This raise will complement the millions already invested by serial entrepreneur Gerald McMorrow, who founded VerAvanti in 2013 after growing his former startup, Verathon Inc., a maker of diagnostic ultrasound tools, into a multi-national powerhouse and successful acquisition by Roper Industries in 2009. In addition to finalizing its funding efforts, VerAvanti was awarded two back-to-back NIH Research Grants in May and June. All funds will further the company’s continued research, product development, and strategic hiring as it readies for a 2018 market launch, pending FDA 510(k) premarket clearance.
…This new funding round comes from family and friends rather than venture capital. McMorrow told GeekWire that the structure of the company, as a deliberate, long-term producer of medical products, doesn’t fit well with the VC funding model. “We want to create a really solid company, build lifetime careers for our people, build really good products for our customers that help them provide better healthcare to their patients,” McMorrow said. “We are not in here just to get something and flip it.” VerAvanti’s first product is called a Scanning Fiber Endoscope, and it consists of an imaging station and a tiny catheter that is designed to take HD quality images.
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) is the Nano-scale level technology required to build microscopic devices with components between 0.001 to 0.1 mm in size, which is required to build the company’s sub-millimeter Scanning Fiber Endoscope (SFE), which provides an inside view into hidden artery surfaces. Because these manufacturing facilities are so rare, VerAvanti built and designed its own MEMS manufacturing facility to ensure high volume, precision quality production of its SFE devices.
The slim, low-profile, user-friendly console is designed to provide physicians with fast, intuitive and complete access to the tools and patient data needed during procedures. The all-in-one and intuitive-to-use mobile cart includes touch screen monitor access to data, a sterile and integrated console with POD used to connect the angioscope catheter, and an easy-access disposal basket.
ISO 13485 is the internationally recognized standard for quality management in the medical device industry. VerAvanti undertook certification to ensure that its quality systems complied with regulatory requirements and provided the efficiency to scale. DEKRA, a leading audit and certification organization, certified VerAvanti for ISO 13485 quality compliance in January 2015 and completed a stage 1 audit in November 2015 and a stage 2 audit in January 2016.
(February 9, 2016) – Used in the company’s Scanning Fiber Endoscope (SFE), McMorrow’s patent (US 9258108) for a closed loop optical feedback synchronization system, provides real time feedback and control of a light emitting fiber when scanning or displaying an image. Unique in the market, the light emitting fiber is driven by an actuator in an angular pattern to scan the image. Light reflected from a lens assembly is received by an optical synchronizer integrated circuit that includes a slot located between walls of the circuit. The reflected light is directed toward a multi-mode fiber in optical communication with the circuit. A radial position of the reflected light as it passes the slot may be used to compensate for a drift in angular velocity of the light emitting fiber.
Redmond, WA –With help from Explore Consulting (Bellevue, WA), VerAvanti implements a full NetSuite platform including a CRM, the ERP/accounting backend, and a complete manufacturing and demand planning system. Within 90 Days VerAvanti was prepared to charge ahead without worrying about the business system scaling with rapid growth. The cloud-based, secure, fully integrated database provides a single source of truth across all business functions, and is instantly accessible by employees globally.