TMC Venture Fund launches with $25M for med startups

Henri Justino, of PolyVascular, speaks at TMCx Demo Day, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017, in Houston. ( Jon Shapley / Houston Chronicle ) Henri Justino, of PolyVascular, speaks at TMCx Demo Day, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017, in Houston. ( Jon Shapley / Houston Chronicle ) Photo: Jon Shapley, Staff Photographer Photo: Jon Shapley, Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close TMC Venture Fund launches with $25M for med startups 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

The Texas Medical Center is launching a $25 million venture fund to support early-stage companies developing technologies in the health-care field.

"The TMC Venture Fund is a quintessential example of the Texas Medical Center's ongoing commitment to driving collaboration across our medical city and further establishing Texas as the 'third coast of life sciences' in the United States," said Bill McKeon, TMC president and CEO in a statement Wednesday.

The announcement came on TMCx Demo Day, in which 18 startups in the fields of cardiology/vascular access, emergency management and wearables among others pitched their products to investors and hospital stakeholders, completing their coursework in the center's accelerator program. The latest group of startups raised more than $26.2 million in total funding over the course of the four-month program.

One TMCx graduate, Alleviant Medical, is among the first five companies to receive money through the new venture fund. The startup is developing a minimally invasive device to treat congestive heart failure. Prior to joining the TMCx class, its members completed the medical center's one-year biodesign fellowship.

Other venture fund recipients had previously graduated from the accelerator program: Briteseed, developing smart surgical tools; CNSDose, developing a genetically guided way to prescribe antidepressants; Medable, developing a patient data platform; and Noninvasix, developing a patient monitor for brain oxygenation in premature babies.

While companies interested in applying for venture fund resources next year don't need to have completed the TMCx program, special consideration will be given to startups with some connection to the medical center and Houston. Three of the inaugural recipient companies are locally founded.

"This is really as much an investment in Houston," McKeon said in an interview.

The new fund's long-term goal is to bolster the city's startup ecosystem, particularly in the medical realm.