Medtronic, Boston Scientific making earlier bets on startups
St. Jude Medical
Nanostim's leadless pacemaker has approval to sell in Europe. The Euro coin is shown to give a sense of scale
Med-tech venture capital deals are a lot smaller, and less frequent, than they used to be. And that's putting device giants like Medtronic Inc.[6], St. Jude Medical Inc.[7] and Boston Scientific Corp.[8] into the acquisition game much earlier.
The Wall Street Journal has a report on the trend, which is driven by a 40 percent drop[9] in VC investment in medical-device and equipment startups since 2007, to $2.14 billion this year.
With fewer VC backers, startups are turning to the likes of Medtronic and Boston Sci, which both say they're doing investments and M&A deals with ever-smaller companies. (Minnesota was one of the biggest markets[10] for corporate investments during the third quarter.)
One example of the new model is St. Jude's recent deal to buy Nanostim[11], a maker of inside-the-heart pacemakers.
Not all VCs are getting out of med-tech; the Business Journal last month reported on a new $250 million fund[12] being raised by Versant Ventures.
Mark Reilly manages daily and weekly coverage at the Business Journal newsroom.
References
- ^ Mark Reilly (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)
- ^ Google+ (plus.google.com)
- ^ Medtronic Inc. (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ St. Jude Medical Inc. (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Boston Scientific Corp. (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ which is driven by a 40 percent drop (online.wsj.com)
- ^ Minnesota was one of the biggest markets (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ St. Jude's recent deal to buy Nanostim (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ on a new $250 million fund (www.bizjournals.com)