CLEVELAND, OH, JumpStart, a nonprofit that invests in and assists high growth, early stage companies in Northeast Ohio, and RiverVest Venture Partners, a venture capital firm focused on early stage life science companies, announced a co-investment of $750,000 in Securus Medical Group. The company is developing a product that provides real-time temperature mapping within a hollow body cavity.

Securus relocated to Cleveland from Boston in July 2011. "With several world-class research hospitals and universities, Cleveland's healthcare innovation is a definite strength in the region," said Donna Richardson, chief executive officer of Securus. "Because of that, startups in this sector have access to investment and technical support you can't find in other cities." Richardson is a veteran CEO in the medical device industry, having raised over $25 million in growth funding for previous ventures and having stewarded several medical device startups through the regulatory approvals process.
The JumpStart and RiverVest co-investment is the first in a $1.5 million Series A round Securus is in the process of raising. The equity investment is augmented by a $350,000 grant from the Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center awarded in March 2011.

Securus plans to use its Series A funding to develop its initial product, the L-View™ Probe. L-View is the world's first temperature mapping system and is expected to have several clinical applications where the risk of thermal organ damage is high. "Threat of heat damage is present in a variety of surgical procedures and, as a preventative method, physicians often undertreat," said Michael Lang of JumpStart. "This caution actually can result in high reoccurrence rates and a myriad of other problems."

"We are very excited to be able to support Securus with this investment and impressed with management's vision for how to realize the potential of this exciting technology," said Karen Spilizewski, vice president with both RiverVest and BioEnterprise. "We believe that locating the company in Cleveland will only enhance its ability to succeed by tapping into the many resources that are available to healthcare startups in the region, including everything from clinical collaborations to product development to business development and funding. The supporting infrastructure in the Cleveland area for healthcare technology development is a great asset for new companies, as demonstrated by the fact that over half of the angel and venture capital invested in northeast Ohio last year went to healthcare companies."

The $500,000 investment from RiverVest brings its Fund II portfolio to 11 companies and the JumpStart $250,000 commitment represents its 82nd investment in its 56th company.