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.
The funds raised are designated to bolster UMD’s infrastructure, covering various aspects including regulatory, medical, legal, manufacturing, packaging, sales, and marketing. This financing round marks a significant stride toward UMD’s path to profitability and sustainability, with a primary focus on bringing its pioneering product – MicroWash – to market.
MicroWash plays a crucial role in tackling the challenges posed by the “tripledemic” – flu, COVID, and RSV – along with other respiratory infections. Developed amidst the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, MicroWash offers a comfortable and high-quality nasal specimen collection device, presenting a less invasive alternative to nasal swabs for laboratories, patients, and healthcare providers. This collection system holds particular importance for higher-risk populations and serves as a significant stride toward mitigating the global impact of future pandemics.
The funding round, initiated in March 2023 and concluded in December, was spearheaded by Bright Minds Capital Partners, Invest Nebraska, and leaders from AV Legacy Holdings LLC and UMD. This achievement marks a pivotal moment for UMD, propelling the company forward in its pursuit of innovative healthcare solutions.
“Securing full funding for our seed round underscores investors’ confidence in our vision, recognizing us as pioneers in revolutionizing upper respiratory infection sample collection for testing,” stated James Young, UMD Founder and CEO. “It reflects belief in UMD’s potential to influence national and global health security, as well as trust in our exceptional executive and inventor team.”
“At Bright Minds, we champion truly visionary concepts. UMD’s team of experts perfectly aligns with our ethos,” commented David Holme, Executive Chairman of Bright Minds Capital Partners. “UMD’s devices stand poised to revolutionize healthcare diagnostics for the better. We are confident in the company’s future impact and longevity – from MicroWash and beyond.”
Moving forward, UMD is gearing up to launch an aggressive sales campaign in the first half of 2024, targeting medical supply distributors, national reference laboratories, health systems, health plans, as well as municipal and federal government agencies. Device availability is anticipated later this year. Prospective customers and stakeholders can anticipate multiple groundbreaking sample collection products from UMD in the years to come.
