(Source: Commercial Appeal, The)
By Toby Sells
Money and ideas tried to find each other Tuesday at the kick-off
of the seventh annual Musculoskeletal New Ventures Conference.
"Billions of dollars" swirled around the FedEx Institute of
Technology as venture capitalists and corporate business developers
heard presentations from start-ups focused on musculoskeletal
products, mostly medical devices for hips, knees and the spine.
"We have found two or three companies in our portfolio because of
this event," said Gary Stevenson, event organizer and MB Venture
Partners LLC co-founder.
About one-third of the event's attendees were venture
capitalists, Stevenson said. Another third were business development
scouts from medical-device companies like Medtronic Inc. looking for
new partners or products to acquire. The others were entrepreneurs,
"the people with the ideas."
While the conference is tailored for those in the musculoskeletal
market, don't call it a niche market - Stevenson said the segment is
worth about $40 billion annually.
The De Angelis Group, a Scottsdale, Ariz., executive-recruitment
firm, helped sponsor the event this year after attending for the
first time last year.
"We only work with orthopedic and spine start-ups so this is a
direct hit for us as far as the people and companies we are looking
for," said Josh Sandberg, a company partner.
However, the recession served as a faint backdrop to Tuesday's
stage of hope and optimism.
"Raising money right now costs more than I've ever seen, in terms
of the amount of the company you have to give up," said Drue De
Angelis, managing partner of the De Angelis Group. "Ownership is
going to the money today because without the money, the ideas just
evaporate."
Todd Clearwater, vice president of sales for Boston-based Apatech
Inc., said musculoskeletal venture capitalists are strained now just
like many investors. He said his synthetic-bone-graft company didn't
necessarily come to the conference to make a deal but to get a
baseline of the industry.
"It's always good to talk to people in the industry to see if
your pulse is the same as theirs," Clearwater said. "This is the
right place to do it."
- Toby Sells: 529-2742
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Musculoskeletal New Ventures Conference
Twenty-two companies presenting their ideas to venture
capitalists and corporate business developers
Conference ends today at FedEx Institute of Technology
Organizers said the conference is likely the largest collection
of venture capital in the state at any time.
Web site: mnvc.org
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Originally published by Toby Sells sells@commercialappeal.com .
(c) 2009 Commercial Appeal, The. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.
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