Venture Capital "tone" dramatically positive
BY EDITOR, SEPTEMBER 29, 2003
Dave Stassen, legendary medical device venture capitalist and principal at the $3 billion St. Paul Ventures in Minnesota is calling a turn in medical device venture investment. In his talk at the OrthoKnow symposium last week, Stassen recounted the recent 3-year decline in venture capital medical device investment as well as the overall bear market for equities. Then he said, basically, “that's all over folks”. More money is freeing up to fund medical device growth and development. As to where to put that money... well, Stassen is still enamored with the spine industry. (He had, at one point, led Spine Tech from development stage to IPO to eventual sale to Sulzer Medica). And the area of greatest interest? Spinal repair... specifically annulus repair and facet joint repair. From our perspective, however, the most interesting point Stassen made was that the medical device venture spigot was itself repaired.
