ExploraMed

ExploraMed is a venture-backed medical device incubator based in Mountain View, California, dedicated to the identification, creation and development of novel solutions for unmet health needs. Rather than operating as a conventional device manufacturer, ExploraMed functions as a company-creation platform: it finds important unmet clinical needs, invents new device concepts to address them, protects the resulting intellectual property, builds a management team and business strategy around each concept, and then injects capital, IP and clinical, engineering and regulatory expertise to launch a standalone company. Its stated vision is "inventions to improve quality of life," and its mission is to significantly improve patients' quality of life through unique solutions to long-standing health issues while creating value for customers and shareholders. The firm's portfolio spans several therapeutic areas. Acclarent, created under Fund II in 2004, pioneered Balloon Sinuplasty for chronic sinusitis and became a division of Johnson & Johnson after its 2010 acquisition. NeoTract developed a less invasive device for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), the non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland that constricts the urethra and causes difficult urination. Willow reimagined the traditional breast pump as the first truly mobile, cord-free pump that fits inside a bra. Moximed is developing a novel knee implant, the Kinespring/Atlas technology, to treat moderate to severe osteoarthritis by unloading the knee joint and absorbing energy. According to its own account, ExploraMed has completed four funding rounds and created eight impactful companies, working in partnership with New Enterprise Associates and several key business and clinical leaders from the medical technology industry. The firm describes itself as "at it again with ExploraMed V," indicating an ongoing fifth fund and a continuing appetite for challenging traditional thinking in healthcare. Its operating philosophy places the patient at the core of assessment and re-assessment, and it explicitly screens out ideas that cannot be protected by IP or taken through the necessary clinical trials, even if they appear technologically strong. ExploraMed is privately held and venture-backed rather than publicly listed. Its commercial footprint is expressed mainly through the companies it spawns and the strategic acquirers that later buy them, giving it an unusual profile in the medical technology sector: a repeat founder of device businesses rather than a single-product brand.

ExploraMed was established as a medical device incubator in Mountain View, California, with a model built around creating companies rather than merely funding them. Its stated approach begins with finding important unmet health needs, understanding those needs from the perspective of every stakeholder including patients and physicians, and then inventing new ideas to address them. The firm vets each possible solution thoroughly and selects the best one; if an idea is a strong technological innovation but cannot be protected with intellectual property or taken through the necessary clinical trial, ExploraMed moves past it. Once a key unmet need is identified, the firm begins the invention process, creates the company, implements the business strategy, and injects capital, intellectual property and its expertise in clinical studies and engineering. A central element of the firm's history is its series of funds. Acclarent was created under Fund II in 2004. Acclarent became the leader in minimally invasive treatments for ear, nose and throat conditions including sinusitis and airway stenosis, and pioneered Balloon Sinuplasty as a treatment for chronic sinusitis — a problem affecting more than 35 million people each year in the United States. Acclarent was acquired in 2010 and became a division of Johnson & Johnson, providing a landmark exit for the incubator. Other portfolio companies followed distinct paths. NeoTract developed a less invasive device for benign prostatic hyperplasia, the non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland in men as they age, which constricts the urethra and causes difficult urination. Willow, described as a mission-driven startup, reimagined the traditional breast pump as the first truly mobile pump that cuts the cords, ditches dangling bottles and fits easily inside a bra. Moximed developed a novel implant to treat osteoarthritis of the knee, with its Kinespring/Atlas technology designed to unload the knee joint by absorbing energy for moderate to severe osteoarthritis. By its own account, ExploraMed has completed four funding rounds and created eight impactful companies, working in partnership with New Enterprise Associates and several key business and clinical leaders from the medical technology industry. The firm states that it is "at it again with ExploraMed V," signaling a fifth fund and continued company creation. Across its history, ExploraMed has positioned itself as a repeat founder of patient-focused device businesses, with exits such as Acclarent validating its incubate-and-launch model.

• 2010

  Acclarent acquired and became a division of Johnson & Johnson.

• 2004

  Acclarent created under ExploraMed Fund II; it pioneered Balloon Sinuplasty for chronic sinusitis.

• ExploraMed reports four funding rounds and eight companies created.

• ExploraMed V launched as the firm's fifth fund.

A venture-backed medical device incubator that invents, protects and launches patient-driven device companies, partnering with investors such as New Enterprise Associates and medical technology leaders.

• Acclarent Balloon Sinuplasty

  Minimally invasive balloon sinuplasty devices for sinus surgery, offering ENT surgeons and patients an option beyond conventional endoscopic surgery, which destroys healthy tissue.

• NeoTract BPH device

  A less invasive device for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia, the non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland in men as they age.

• Willow breast pump

  The first truly mobile breast pump that cuts the cords, ditches the dangling bottles, and fits easily inside a bra.

• Moximed Kinespring/Atlas

  A novel implant to treat osteoarthritis of the knee that unloads the knee joint by absorbing energy, for moderate to severe osteoarthritis.

1. 1ExploraMedexploramed.com
2. 2About Us — ExploraMedexploramed.com
3. 3Acclarent — ExploraMedexploramed.com
4. 4Exploramed (United States) — Wikidatawikidata.org