Starlight Cardiovascular Secures $9.48M in Series A Financing to Advance Pediatric Health

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Starlight Cardiovascular announced today that it has closed the first $9.48M in an $11.45M Series A financing, which will be used to progress development of its portfolio of pediatric interventional cardiology devices. The financing is led by Bird B and included conversion of previously-issued notes.

"Congenital Heart Defects are the most common birth defects and the leading cause of infant mortality in the developed world," stated Dr. Pedro del Nido, Chairman of Cardiac Surgery at Boston Children's Hospital and Starlight Co-Founder. "Clinicians are in desperate need of less invasive and more efficacious treatments, like those provided by Starlight."

Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) affects approximately 1% of babies born each year, and the annual cost of pediatric CHD hospitalizations in the US alone is upwards of $6B.¹ Treatment often requires open chest surgery on newborns, which can result in prolonged recovery times and long-term developmental delays.² Most interventional cardiology tools that are used to treat babies are designed for adults and used off-label, requiring physicians to modify the devices ad hoc and leading to increased re-interventions and morbidity. Starlight Cardiovascular is developing a portfolio of minimally-invasive devices to address the heterogenous clinical needs in pediatric CHD. Its first product, a Ductus Arteriosus Stent, replaces a life-saving open chest surgery with a microcatheter-based procedure performed through a small incision in the skin. "This is an amazing development for Congenital Heart Disease. This stent will help eliminate an open heart procedure for newborns, add a level of safety to the procedure for our infants, and bring a needed technology to more catheterization laboratories and patients," commented Dr. Lynn Peng, Director, Cardiac Catheterization, Pediatric Cardiology, Stanford University.

"The unmet needs of pediatric CHD patients and the technical challenges faced by pediatric surgeons and interventionalists have long been ignored," emphasized Beverly Tang, co-Founder and CEO of Starlight Cardiovascular. "We are thrilled to complete this initial close of our Series A financing with strong support from an incredibly successful and experienced lead that believes in our mission. This financing will allow us to execute on our vision of providing much-needed devices to these underserved patients."

Alf Grunwald, Executive Advisor at Bird B AG commented, "We are excited to be partnering with Beverly and the entire team at Starlight to continue their important work in bringing these cutting-edge medical devices to market. We see the value of moving beyond a one-device company, creating a portfolio of products in an underserviced clinical field in a significant market segment. Starlight's pediatric cardiovascular products have the ability to make life-saving procedures safer for our most vulnerable patient population."

Starlight Cardiovascular is a preclinical stage medical technology company developing a portfolio of devices to address pediatric Congenital Heart Disease.

www.starlightcardio.com

Bird B AG is a Swiss based, globally active investment company with headquarters in Zug, Switzerland. Founded in 2003 Bird B invests in early phase growth business in the field of innovative orthopedic implants, surgery technologies, supportive and enabling systems and software in the medical field.

All portfolio businesses are part of an evergreen strategy with long-term perspectives. Bird B is an active investor, supporting all investments by providing strategic guidance and utilizing its extensive network of business and executives in the medical field.

www.bird-b.com

REFERENCES

1. Arth et al. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2017;66(2):41-46.
2. Hsia et al. Ann Thorac Surg. 2006;81:S2381-8.

SOURCE Starlight Cardiovascular