Medical device maker closes $12.5M funding round
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Indianapolis-based NICO Corp. has completed a $12.5 million funding round. The company, which makes devices for minimally invasive neurosurgical care, said it will use the oversubscribed round to scale its business and add up to 15 jobs.
NICO makes devices such as BrainPath, which is designed to help neurosurgeons navigate to a brain tumor or hemorrhagic stroke with minimal impact on the brain itself. Other devices are used to illuminate and remove tumors in a minimally invasive surgical (MIS) setting.
BrainPath was featured in a 2016 edition of IIB’s Life Sciences INdiana newsletter.
The company recently completed an adaptive clinical trial focusing on intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), or hemorrhagic stroke, using an MIS procedure that uses the natural folds of the brain to access and surgically address hemorrhages within the first 24 hours of the onset of symptoms.
NICO said it will use the funding to leverage continued progress on its ICH efforts.
The round was led by healthcare growth equity firm RC Capital, which has offices in Ohio and North Carolina, as well as existing investors.
“NICO represents everything we look for in a medtech business – a large market opportunity, growing revenue, demonstrated clinical outcomes, patent-protected technology, and compelling hospital economics – all led by a serially successful executive team,” J. Carter McNabb, managing partner at RC Capital, said in written remarks. “The brain is really the final frontier for minimally invasive surgery in medtech, and NICO’s platform technology is the catalyst for that change.”
NICO currently has 60 employees, including 20 office workers and 40 field employees. About 25 work at the company’s Indianapolis headquarters, a spokesperson told Inside INdiana Business.
The company reported 25% revenue growth last year and said it’s on pace for similar growth in 2022.
“Adoption rates have continued to grow, which has led to MIS being taught to neurosurgery residents. That’s how I know we have staying power,” said Jim Pearson, president and CEO of NICO. “It’s not a question of whether we will be successful. We are successful, and we’re in the middle of revolutionary changes happening in neurosurgery.”
NICO said it has received $62 million in investments since its launch in 2007.