JustRight Surgical Closes $7.5 Mil Financing Round

JustRight Surgical LLC, a Boulder, CO-based startup, has just closed a $7.5 million financing round that was "fully subscribed by existing shareholders," JustRight co-founder and CEO Russ Lindemann told the Boulder County Business Report (BCBR).

According to BCBR's Joshua Lindenstein, the company intends to expand its sales staff and is looking at new products to develop. JustRight specializes in developing medical devices that are "right-sized" for smaller spaces.

The privately held JustRight received FDA approval to market its JustRight 5mm surgical stapler in February. JustRight's press release announcing the approval describes the stapler as "the smallest classic stapler on the market." The company says the stapler will be used by surgeons in pediatric and general surgery where access is limited and visibility is reduced. Pediatric surgeons, Lindemann said, have found the devices useful where visualization and maneuvers are tight.

The 5mm stapler is JustRight's third product to be approved. Existing offerings include a surgical vessel sealer, which is described as a multifunction instrument designed with input from leading surgeons. It is said to be ideal for procedures requiring precise dissection, grasping and sealing of vascular bundles and vessels up to and including 5mm in diameter. Its accompanying generator features low-power bipolar output and delivers less than 25 watts of controlled energy to allow for operation around delicate tissue and fine structures.

Steve Rothenberg, MD, medical advisor and co-founder of JustRight Surgical, said, "In the electronics industry, miniaturization happens almost faster than we can absorb the changes. Meanwhile, the downsizing of surgical instrumentation has remained stagnant and we have made it our mission to change that."

The company's devices are for use in any general surgical applications, Lindemann says, and they fit well with the movement toward smaller incisions that result in less scarring and shorter healing time.

BCBR's Lindenstein reports that JustRight manufactures its products in Boston. The company has just 12 employees, but Lindemann told Lindenstein that number will grow to 20 to 25 by the end of this year and to 30 to 35 by the end of 2015 as marketing efforts increase.

This latest round of financing is the third reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in recent months. A pair of SEC Form D filings, both updated last September, detail a round capped at $4 million with 43 unnamed investors and another of $6.5 million subscribed by 46. Since the latest filing lists 50 investors, it appears that the company's pool of deep pockets is expanding along with their product line.

Stephen Levy is a contributor to Qmed and MPMN.