EvoEndo Raises $10.1M to Develop Transnasal Endoscopy Tech

EvoEndo Inc., a preclinical medical device company developing systems for unsedated transnasal endoscopy (TNE), has secured $10.1 million in equity financing. The funding round, which included a variety of family offices and early-stage life science investors, will be used to further EvoEndo’s innovative technology designed to help physicians diagnose, treat, and monitor conditions for a variety of gastrointestinal disorders.
 
EvoEndo was co-founded in 2017 by Dr. Joel Friedlander, a pediatric gastroenterologist, and the interdisciplinary aerodigestive medicine team at Children’s Hospital of Colorado. EvoEndo’s mission is to make endoscopies safer for patients by eliminating the need for general anesthesia while reducing the complexity and cost of endoscopy for physicians and hospitals. EvoEndo’s system combines sterile, single-use, flexible endoscopes with VR-based patient distraction to allow the procedure to be performed safely in children and adults without anesthesia or sedation. The company is led by Heather Underwood, Ph.D., an experienced medical device and technology entrepreneur, and alumna of the Stanford University Biodesign Program.
 
EvoEndo’s system is currently pending U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance and is not available for sale in the United States.
 
“The needs for sterile single-use devices that reduce infection risk and safer procedures for pediatric patients that reduce time spent in hospitals, has only intensified amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Underwood, CEO at EvoEndo. “Joel and his interdisciplinary team have pioneered the unsedated TNE procedure for pediatric patients, demonstrating the potential of this procedure to dramatically improve the lives of patients suffering from conditions like GERD/reflux, ulcers, celiac disease, and eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). The EvoEndo system will allow more hospitals across the U.S. to quickly and affordably start unsedated TNE programs, and this funding round will enable us to execute on that vision.”
 
“EvoEndo’s approach to solving the burdens too often associated with traditional endoscopy procedures currently requiring sedation is showing real and clear potential to redefine the ways in which these arduous procedures are performed,” said David Bunning, CEO of TLP Investment Partners LLC (TLP), a founding investor who also participated in the round. “We are pleased to be partnering with Heather, Joel, and their talented team as they continue their exceptionally important work making unsedated TNE the safer and more cost-effective solution for patients, doctors, and hospitals.”
 
EvoEndo Inc. is a preclinical stage medical device company developing systems that enable unsedated endoscopic procedures through a combination of sterile single-use, flexible endoscopes and VR-based patient distraction. Its technology allows pediatric patients and adults alike to receive routine endoscopies in the clinic without the use of general anesthesia or sedation, while reducing complexity, cost, and patient/provider apprehension.