Mason medical device startup raises $1.2M in seed money

Genetesis, a Mason-based medical device start-up that has developed a non-invasive tool to help physicians see the electrical activity that makes a heart beat, recently raised $1.2 million in its first round of seed financing.

The effort was led by CincyTech and billionaire businessman and investor Mark Cuban’s Radical Investments. Other participants included LOUD Capital, Danmar Capital, Wilson Sonsini Investment Company, Genetesis management and private angels.

The widely used electrocardiogram — ECG or EKG — provides a snapshot of heart rate and rhythm during the test, but does not reflect many underlying problems that may exist when a patient is not experiencing symptoms.

CardioFlux gives physicians 3-D mapping tools to understand each patient’s underlying electrical activity, which can potentially be used to diagnose, characterize, and guide treatment for a variety of cardiac disorders including myocardial ischemia, atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia and a variety of other cardiac arrhythmias.

“CincyTech was attracted to this opportunity by the entrepreneurial verve of the team and their ability to very rapidly generate meaningful clinical data to validate the technology and the market,” John Rice, CincyTech’s director of life sciences, said in the company’s statement. “We believe the Genetesis technology can be expanded beyond the cardiac market to the sizable market of magnetic brain imaging.”

Genetesis was founded in Mason in 2013 and employs 10 people. It will use the funding to scale its engineering, launch additional clinical studies and seek regulatory clearance from the FDA.

“The Genetesis technology opens broad new commercial markets for what has, for decades, been primarily a research tool. For millions dealing with the risks and anxiety of arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation and other cardiac diseases, this is a game changer,” Cuban said in a statement.

Genetesis co-founder and CEO Peeyush Shrivastava presented findings Nov. 15 at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions. The data was collected in collaboration with Mayo Clinic, he said in a statement.

“These results demonstrate promising improvements for the noninvasive detection of ischemia in patients with high-risk chest pain, as compared to tools available in the emergency room today,” Shrivastava said.

About the Author