SpineGuard Raises $4m From Delta Partners

SpineGuard has completed its Series A round of funding, raising $4m from Delta Partners.  It has also appointed two new directors: Maurice Bourlion, co-inventor of PediGuard, and Joe Mason, a partner with Delta Partners.

The $4m investment completes SpineGuard’s first round of venture capital funding, bringing the total funding to $15m. In April 2009 SpineGuard raised $11m, with leader Crédit Agricole Private Equity joined by Innoven Partenaires and A Plus Finance.

SpineGuard was founded this year by Pierre Jérôme and Stéphane Bette, former executives at Medtronic Sofamor-Danek and SpineVision, respectively. Their product Pediguard is a hand-held device for use in spinal surgery. It is said to increase the accuracy and efficiency of pedicle screw placement surgery, which has a high rate of subsequent complications. The technology has received favourable peer-reviews in specialist publications.

“This additional funding and the support of Delta Partners and Maurice Bourlion will fortify our efforts to establish PediGuard as a standard of care for safer spine surgery,” says Pierre Jérôme, CEO of SpineGuard. “Our novel device is emerging as a compelling solution to the widespread clinical need for safer pedicle screw placement.”

“PediGuard is a very exciting product. We look forward to supporting the company and team as they build out PediGuard over the coming months and years,” adds Joe Mason, MD and partner of Delta Partners.

Maurice Bourlion, newly appointed director at SpineGuard, says, “I am delighted to be involved actively in the governance of SpineGuard, because I am convinced it will establish PediGuard as a standard of care. Indeed, I am proud to be part of a venture where patient safety and surgeon assistance are the primary goals. And I know that the PediGuard technology platform has other promising applications.”

Alexia Perouse, investment director with Crédit Agricole Private Equity, adds, “We are pleased that the leading investment firm Delta Partners recognises the value of SpineGuard and the potential of PediGuard. In addition, Maurice Bourlion and Joe Mason, by joining the company as directors, will bring a very interesting strategic experience to the board.”

Delta Partners is an Irish early-stage venture capital firm. Established in 1994 and with €230m under management in 60 companies, they focus on early stage technology companies across ICT and healthcare, particularly medical technology. The firm recently invested €2.5m in Zapa Technology, a new Irish company using Near Field Communications technology in mobile phones for customer loyalty enterprises.