Connecticut invested $1 million to bring a small biomedical company to New Haven from Virginia — the state’s second northern transplant in 12 months — hoping for a payoff from EpiEP Inc.’s device to make heart surgeries less invasive.
“The technology intrigued us and they were looking for capital,” said Peter Longo, president of Connecticut Innovations, the state’s quasi-public agency responsible for technology investment. “This is a pretty large market they are going after.”
EpiEP was attractive because its initial product is innovative, the management team seems strong, and the developer of their product has a solid background, Longo said.
The company employs five people and will add one or two more positions immediately after relocating to New Haven in July, officials said.
Last July, CI invested $750,000 to lure Soft Tissue Regeneration LLC to Stamford. That company, like EpiEP, started out at the University of Virginia.
“The state of Connecticut is certainly interested in bringing medical device companies there,” Bunes said. “The business climate seems much better.”
EpiEP is designing a new intervention method to help in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. The company’s initial product — called the EpiAccess system — provides minimally invasive access to the heart’s outer layer.
CI’s commitment to the company was the main reason for the relocation to Connecticut, Bunes said. Other reasons included more access to venture capital assets in New Haven and more similar medical device companies in the region, which helps in attracting top-level talent.
CI invests $13 million to $14 million in nearly two dozen companies such as EpiEP each year, part of its self-funding equity investment vehicle. The agency uses profits from those investments to sustain its operations.
About 40 percent of CI’s investments are in medical-device and life-science startups. Another 40 percent is doled out to information technology industry, with the rest directed at the clean-technology sector.
