OMAHA, Neb.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--University Medical Devices (UMD) today announced the closure of its first round of seed funding. UMD – which brings to market cutting-edge healthcare technology from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and its commercialization wings UNeMed/UNeTech – raised $1.6 million to drive the company’s mission of revolutionizing healthcare diagnostics.
Funds are earmarked to advance UMD’s infrastructure, covering regulatory, medical, legal, manufacturing, packaging, sales and marketing. This funding round represents a major step toward UMD achieving profitability and sustainability, with a strong emphasis on bringing its first product – MicroWash – to market.
MicroWash plays a pivotal role in addressing the challenges posed by the “tripledemic” – flu, COVID and RSV – as well as other respiratory infections. Developed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, MicroWash is a comfortable and high-quality nasal specimen collection device providing a less invasive alternative to nasal swabs for labs, patients and healthcare providers. This collection system is especially crucial for higher-risk populations and a significant step toward mitigating the global impact of future pandemics.
The funding round, which began in March 2023 and closed in December, was led by Bright Minds Capital Partners, Invest Nebraska and leaders from AV Legacy Holdings LLC and UMD. This achievement marks a milestone for UMD, propelling the company forward to pursue more innovative healthcare solutions.
“Having our seed round close fully funded is a testament to investors’ belief in our concepts, recognizing we’re a trailblazer in how upper respiratory infection samples are collected for testing," said James Young, UMD Founder and CEO. “It demonstrates confidence in UMD’s ability to impact national and global health security, as well as faith in our top-tier executive and inventor team.”
“At Bright Minds, we support truly visionary ideas. UMD’s team of experts fit the bill,” said David Holme, Executive Chairman of Bright Minds Capital Partners. “UMD’s devices stand to evolve healthcare diagnostics for the better. We’re confident in the impact and longevity of the company’s future – from MicroWash and beyond.”
Looking ahead, UMD is set to launch an aggressive sales campaign in the first half of 2024 to medical supply distributors, national reference laboratories, health systems and health plans as well as municipal and federal government agencies, with device availability anticipated later this year. Prospective customers and stakeholders can expect multiple paradigm-shifting sample collection products from UMD in the coming years.
For more information on MicroWash availability and partnerships, email sales@umdevices.com.
About University Medical Devices
University Medical Devices is the medical device developer behind MicroWash. Its mission is to provide cutting-edge and highly reliable specimen collection systems that improve the patient experience.
The company’s leadership includes experts in neurology, emergency medicine, telehealth, urgent care, primary care, healthcare startup entrepreneurship and healthcare regulation with training at leading medical institutions across the U.S. They also have specialized expertise in biocontainment and pandemic medicine with the National Quarantine Unit — the only federally supported program of its kind — and were among the first to oversee isolation care and serial testing for COVID-19 patients returning to the U.S. at the beginning of the pandemic. NMotion powered by gener8tor, Nebraska’s premier startup accelerator, played a key role in UMD’s early development.
More at getmicrowash.com.
About the Lead Investors
- Led by David Holme, Bright Minds Capital Partners is a dynamic venture capital firm boldly venturing into disruptive technology domains, including the cutting-edge solar energy and burgeoning medical sectors: brightmindscapitalpartners.com.
- Craig and Karen Aman are the founders and managers of real estate holdings company AV Legacy Holdings LLC and veterans of the telecommunications and software industry.
- Invest Nebraska is a venture development organization that partners with the Nebraska Department of Economic Development to fund and support the state’s most promising startup companies: investnebraska.com.
- Nicholas Lorenzo and Anne Bueltel are serial healthcare technology entrepreneurs and the Founder/Executive Chairman and COO of UMD, respectively.
