Sofinnova Partners Enhances its Medtech Expertise With Two Appointments

Sofinnova Partners has strengthened its medtech acceleration team by appointing Mano Iyer as partner and promoting Cécile Dupont to partner. These appointments highlight the firm’s strong conviction in the opportunities still untapped within the medtech sector.
 
“These appointments mark a strategic bolstering of our team and underscore the solid performance and promising trajectory of our medtech acceleration strategy,” Sofinnova Partners Chairman/Managing Partner Antoine Papiernik said. “Mano and Cécile bring a wealth of experience in the founding and incubating of companies, which will strengthen our mission to foster groundbreaking medtech innovations with the potential to transform healthcare worldwide.”
 
Iyer is a serial entrepreneur whose ties with Sofinnova Partners stretch back more than 15 years. He rejoined the firm in 2022.
 
In 2008, Iyer was among the co-founders of the original MD Start team that incubated companies including CorWave and LimFlow. He also advised CoreValve, a Sofinnova Capital Strategy portfolio company, which was subsequently purchased by Medtronic for $800 million. Iyer founded ReCor Medical during his time as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Sofinnova Partners in 2009. He left Sofinnova in 2013 to work full-time as the chief operating officer of ReCor, which was successfully sold to Otsuka Medical Devices in 2018.
 
Iyer began his medical device career as an engineer at Arrow International, where he met Tim Lenihan. In 2001, he co-founded Contract Medical International (CMI) with Lenihan, and ran operations and engineering. CMI was acquired by Heraeus Group in 2020.
 
Iyer earned an MBA from Stanford University and a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

“My journey in early-stage medtech and venture hit its stride here at Sofinnova over 15 years ago. I founded and incubated ReCor Medical back then so it’s invigorating to come full circle to be able to start again with founding and incubating the next generation of MD Start companies,” Iyer said. “I look forward to leveraging my experience from my entrepreneurial ventures, especially the challenges and successes at ReCor, which has recently achieved the significant milestone of FDA approval, to cultivate the next wave of medtech pioneers within our medtech strategy.”
 
Dupont joined the firm in 2019, and is currently CEO of BrightHeart, a Sofinnova MD Start III portfolio company. She also brings her operational and strategic expertise to Endoron, another Sofinnova portfolio company, to accelerate the development of its technology. Prior to that, Dupont was CEO of HEPTA Medical, chief operating officer of Gradient Denervation Technologies, and director of clinical, regulatory, and market access at SafeHeal, the first company created by MD Start II, where she managed the execution of the first-in-human study and regulatory approvals in the EU and Untied States.
 
Prior to joining MD Start, Dupont held various clinical, marketing and regulatory positions in both mature and startup medical device organizations in endoscopy, pulmonology, dermatology, surgery, and diabetes care; for single and multi-use disposable products, and capital equipment.
 
Dupont earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from UTC (Université de Technologies de Compiègne) in France, Dalarna University (Sweden) and Favoloro University (Buenos Aires) in Argentina. She also has a degree in corporate finance from HEC in Paris.

“It’s a privilege to advance to this new role within Sofinnova, a firm that truly embodies the pioneering spirit in innovation in the life sciences. The success of our medtech acceleration strategy is just the beginning. We have an incredible opportunity to accelerate and expand our reach in medtech, bringing impactful innovations to market and advance patient care,” Dupont concluded.
 
Sofinnova Partners is a European venture capital firm in life sciences, specializing in healthcare and sustainability. Based in Paris, London, and Milan, the firm brings together a team of professionals with strong scientific, medical and business expertise. Sofinnova Partners is a hands-on company builder across the entire value chain of life sciences investments, from seed to later-stage. The firm actively partners with ambitious entrepreneurs as a lead or cornerstone investor to develop transformative innovations that have the potential to positively impact humanity’s collective future. Founded in 1972, Sofinnova Partners is an established venture capital firm, with 50 years of experience backing more than 500 companies. Sofinnova Partners currently manages more than €2.5 billion.