Ultrasound Technology Startup Sonavex Raises $3M Series A and Expands Board

Sonavex, a Baltimore-based medical device company, has announced a raise of $3M in financing including the first close of its Series A round led by Grey Sky Partners. Recently named Maryland’s 2016 Incubator Company of the Year, Sonavex is focused on improving surgical patient outcomes with point-of-care imaging technologies. Other organizations participating in this financing include CRCM Venture Capital, TEDCO, and the Abell Foundation. Award of a $750k Phase II SBIR grant from the National Science Foundation is also included in the financing. With this influx of capital, Sonavex will be advancing the commercialization of EchoSure, a Doppler ultrasound system, and developing additional ultrasound solutions currently in the company’s pipeline. The press release also announces the addition of Bill Niland, CEO of Harpoon Medical, and Bob Hallenbeck, former executive at Becton Dickinson, to Sonavex’s Board of Directors.

Commenting on the close, David Narrow, Sonavex’s CEO commented, “Our traction has enabled Sonavex to not only raise capital to accomplish critical milestones, but also attract essential talent to support the company’s growth.”

Sonavex currently lists two products in their portfolio of technologies: EchoMark and EchoSure. EchoMark (photo above), is a bioresorbable ultrasound marker used in post-operative ultrasound imaging for procedures in which reaccessing the original surgical site is necessary. Unlike traditional ultrasound markers, which only give a general location of the surgical area, EchoMark displays a unique cross section with high echogenicity, or brightness under ultrasound, for quick, accurate location identification. EchoSure, shown to the right, is an ultrasound system designed for non-expert ultrasound users to rapidly detect postoperative clot formation by automatically identifying loss of flow through blood vessels.