Sources inform "Globes" that cardiac device company Cheetah Medical Inc. has raised $20 million. The financing was led by Ascension Health Ventures (AHV) and also included Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC), MVM Life Science Partners (MVM) and existing investors.

Cheetah Medical CEO Yoav Avidor said, "We planned to raise $8-10 million but the investors who were already in wanted to invest a significant sum. According to our business plan this is the last fundraising that we will need to do."

He added, "We are very excited by the level of support provided by Cheetah's distinguished new investors, who share our vision for the extraordinary potential of the NICOM platform. By providing accurate, noninvasive, continuous hemodynamic information, NICOM can improve patient outcomes by helping clinicians optimize fluid and vasoactive drug management in areas such as critical care, anesthesia, emergency medicine and heart failure. Patients worldwide are already benefiting from the NICOM platform, and the support of our investors enables continued expansion to new clinicians, applications and global markets."

As a result of the financing, Dr. Walter Lin, an Investment Manager with AHV, Gadi Toren, Venture Capital Investment Partner with RBVC, and Dr. Stephen Reeders, a Managing Partner with MVM, have joined the company's board.

NICOM provides a simple to use platform that enables physicians and nurses to quickly obtain accurate advanced hemodynamic parameters at the bedside, thereby aiding in differential diagnosis and selection and titration of the appropriate therapy to individualize patient care. Legacy approaches that rely on invasive, costly catheters have more limited use due to concerns about cost, maintenance requirements, invasiveness and potential complications. NICOM provides accurate hemodynamic information through a safe, cost-effective, user-friendly platform that can be utilized by physicians, nurses and other clinicians.

Cheetah Medical was founded in 2001 and developed a range of medical device applications that failed to become commercially viable. After Avidor became CEO the company successfully developed NICOM. Cheetah raised $8 million in 2008 from the Azrieli Group's venture capital fund and British investors, and later that year received FDA approval for the system.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 15, 2010

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