Securus Medical Group, Inc., a privately held medical device company, announced the initial closing of a $6.5 million Series B financing led by new investor 3X5 Special Opportunity Fund, and that Steven Girouard, PhD has been named President and Chief Executive Officer. A medical device industry veteran, Steve has held executive leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson, Guidant Corporation, Cleveland Clinic and Oakwood Medical Investors.

Existing investor RiverVest Venture Partners, as well as the University of Michigan Investment in New Technology Startups (MINTS) program, also participated in the financing. Securus plans to use Series B proceeds to further develop their Aurora™ thermographic mapping system, a proprietary thermal measurement device that is expected to have several clinical applications for temperature monitoring during energy-based surgical procedures. As part of the financing, Nicholas Walrod, Principal of 3X5 Special Opportunity Fund, will join the Board of Directors.

'We are enthusiastic in our support of Securus and we were delighted to attract Steve to lead the Company during this critical phase of development,' said Walrod. 'We see an opportunity for several large medical device markets to benefit from Securus monitoring technology and Steve brings to Securus deep industry insights and a strong network in target markets for the Company.'

Securus plans to maintain its headquarters in Ohio on the campus of Cleveland Clinic's Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center, an early grant-based supporter of the Company. The Company's 2011 Series A financing was led by RiverVest and included JumpStart and the University of Michigan.

3x5 Special Opportunity Fund, L.P. is a St. Louis and Portland-based, closed-end private investment fund focused primarily on direct investments in later-stage companies within the healthcare and clean-tech sectors. The fund closed in early 2013 at approximately $80 million in committed capital, which it expects to deploy over six portfolio investments.

RiverVest Venture Partners is a venture capital firm focused on identifying and shaping early stage life science companies to create significant shareholder value. With hands-on, high-level expertise and financial resources, RiverVest supports entrepreneurs by helping them achieve near-term objectives that position their companies for exit. For more information, please visit www.rivervest.com.