Santé Announces Expansion Of Ventures Team With The Addition Of Auriel August, MD, Ashley Seehusen, and Michael Gutbrod

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Santé Ventures, (Santé), an early-stage healthcare and life sciences investment firm, has announced the addition of three new key hires to its team. Auriel August, MD joins as a Senior Associate, Ashley Seehusen as a Venture Fellow, and Michael Gutbrod as an Associate. The continued expansion of the firm's headcount comes on the heels of its recently-announced Fund IV, which raised $260 Million and closed in September of this year.

Dr. August will focus on developing the firm's portfolio of early-stage companies, with a specific emphasis on medical devices and healthcare services. She joins the firm having previously served as a Physician-In-Residence at IDEO's Design for Health Studio, where she played a pivotal role in helping to design new medical devices, digital healthcare technologies, and patient care experiences. Ashley Seehusen will focus on the exploration of new investment themes and incubating companies that could potentially become Series A Investments. Before joining Santé, she was the CEO and Co-founder of Nasus Medical. Michael Gutbrod will concentrate on the firm's portfolio of biotech companies, having previously been a fellow at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

"We are thrilled to welcome Auriel, Ashley, and Michael to our team, and look forward to being able to draw upon their impressive and diverse experience," noted Kevin Lalande, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Santé. "As our firm has grown, we remain committed to bringing on the best talent in the industry, who offer the critical support and visionary guidance that our portfolio companies expect from us. With these new hires, we close out 2021 in one of the strongest positions we have been in during our firm's 15-year history."

About Santé Ventures' New Hires:

Auriel August, MD cultivates the firm's portfolio of early-stage companies with a focus on medical devices and healthcare services. Prior to joining Santé, Dr. August was a Physician-In-Residence in IDEO's Design for Health Studio where she worked with clients in the healthcare space to design new medical devices, digital health technologies, and patient care experiences. Before joining IDEO, Dr. August completed the Stanford Biodesign Innovation Fellowship, where she identified unmet needs within healthcare, invented novel technologies to address them, and mapped a path to implementation. Dr. August trained as a general surgeon at Stanford, where she focused on innovation as a way to address healthcare disparities. She earned her MD from Dartmouth Medical School, and a Bachelor of Science in biomedical engineering from Duke University.

Ashley Seehusen focuses on exploring new investment themes and incubating companies that could potentially become Series A investments. Prior to joining Santé, Ashley was the CEO and Co-founder of Nasus Medical, a company that was founded out of her year as a Stanford Biodesign Innovation Fellow. Ashley has spent 18+ years in the medical device industry, the last 12 in marketing, leading teams, setting business strategy, defining new products, and bringing them to commercialization. She earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of California, Berkeley and a PhD from the University of Bristol, both in mechanical engineering. She also has an MBA from Babson College.

Michael Gutbrod focuses on the firm's portfolio of biotech companies. Prior to joining Santé, Michael was a postdoctoral fellow at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and a visiting fellow at Harvard's Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. Michael earned his PhD from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Biological Sciences and his Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne in Molecular & Cellular Biology and English.

About Santé Ventures
Founded in 2006, Santé Ventures is a specialized healthcare and life sciences investment firm with nearly $1BN in capital under management. The firm invests in early-stage companies developing innovative new medical technologies, biotechnologies, and digitally enabled healthcare services. Recent Santé successes include Farapulse (Boston Scientific), Claret Medical (Boston Scientific), TVA Medical (Becton Dickinson), Millipede Medical (Boston Scientific), Molecular Templates (MTEM), AbVitro (Celgene), and Explorys (IBM Corp). Santé invests nationally and has offices in Austin, TX, and Boston, MA. For more information, please visit www.sante.com.

Media Contacts
Santé Ventures Press and Community Relations
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Ryan Walker, R.J. Walker & Co.
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860.930.3611

SOURCE Santé Ventures