Okami Medical Gains $32.5 Million in Funding

Okami Medical has secured $32.5 million in financing, led by Vensana Capital and participation from existing investors, including U.S. Venture Partners, members of the company’s Board of Directors, and other seasoned medical device professionals.

“We are honored to have the support of Vensana and our existing investors to advance these important technologies and deliver them to patients,” Okami President/CEO Rhonda Robb said. “We are also grateful for the support and contributions of our employees and physician partners as we work tirelessly to build the market leader in vascular occlusion.”

Okami was launched by medical device incubator Inceptus Medical, whose principals previously founded other category-defining vascular companies including Inari Medical, Sequent Medical, and MicroVention.

The financing provides Okami with capital to accelerate development and commercialization of its catheter-based technologies for peripheral vascular occlusion. To-date, Okami has developed the LOBO Vascular Occlusion System and the SENDERO Microcatheter. The LOBO Vascular Occlusion System is designed to provide interventional physicians with a single-device, one-and-done solution for occluding numerous peripheral arterial targets without the need for multiple embolic devices. The SENDERO Microcatheter is designed for smooth interventional device delivery while providing optimal trackability through tortuous peripheral vessels.

“LOBO and SENDERO address many of the shortcomings of traditional coils and vascular plugs. Designed for predictable, rapid, and durable occlusion, the platform represents a meaningful step forward in the treatment of vascular disease,” commented Mike Kramer and Kirk Nielsen of Vensana Capital. “We are excited to work alongside the Okami team to bring these and other important technologies to patients and to partner with longtime colleagues and co-investors to build another vascular company.”

The LOBO (LOw-profile Braided Occluder) system treats vessel ranges from 1.5mm to 9.0mm with four sizes and combines a patented design with proprietary HDBRAID technology to create a highly occlusive pore structure that substantially reduces blood flow and accelerates vessel closure. The advanced technology platform enables fast and efficient blood vessel closure throughout the body for treating various conditions.

The SENDERO Microcatheter is 510(k) cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is purpose-built and optimized for delivering LOBO-3 and LOBO-5. Its design incorporates a hydrophilic coating, stainless steel braid, and radiopaque marker band to optimize trackability and enable precise placement of interventional devices, while a lubricious PTFE inner liner allows for low-friction interventional device delivery.

Privately held Okami Medical Inc. develops versatile, intuitive devices for peripheral vessel occlusion. The company was created in 2017 by Inceptus Medical, a medical device incubator.

Vensana Capital is a venture capital and growth equity investment firm that partners with entrepreneurs who seek to transform healthcare with breakthrough medtech innovations. Launched in 2019, Vensana manages $550 million in capital and is actively investing in development and commercial stage companies across the medtech sector, including medical devices, diagnostics and data science, digital health, life science tools, and tech-enabled services. Vensana’s investment team has partnered with management teams behind numerous companies including Artelon, Cameron Health, CardiAQ, Cartiva, CV Ingenuity, Epix Therapeutics, Inari Medical, Intact Vascular, Lutonix, Neuwave Medical, Personal Genome Diagnostics, Relievant Medsystems, Sequent Medical, Topera, Ulthera, Veran Medical Technologies, Vertiflex, and Vesper Medical.

U.S. Venture Partners (USVP) is a Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm, partnering with entrepreneurs to transform their ideas into companies. USVP has invested in more than 500 companies spanning four decades, including: Box, Cato Networks, Edgewise, Epsagon, Happy Returns, HotelTonight, Human Interest, Imperva, Inari Medical, Inspire Medical Systems, Intersect ENT, Kenna, Medigate, MeetMe, Omada Health, Pluto TV, Primary, Smartling, Supplyframe, Standard Bariatrics, ThreatMetrix, Trunk Club, Trusteer and Yammer. USVP focuses on early-stage startups that transform cybersecurity, enterprise software, consumer, and healthcare. The USVP team consists of former entrepreneurs, technologists, corporate executives, and financial professionals who assist with strategy, scaling, team building, product development, and business development.