KitoTech raises $3M as demand soars for its at-home no-stitch wound closure kit

(KitoTech Photos)

Seattle healthcare startup KitoTech Medical faced a challenge at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was difficult to pitch the company’s microMend wound closure device to new hospitals and clinics, limiting the ability to grow its business.

So in response, KitoTech quickly pivoted and developed two new consumer-focused products — and the results have been “remarkable,” according to CEO Ron Berenson.

KitoTech just raised $3 million to help support its growth. The company is known for its microMend device, which was made from technology originally developed at the University of Washington. It uses tiny staples that poke into the skin on either side of a wound and is applied over a cut like a traditional butterfly bandage. The process is painless and can heal wounds up to three times faster than those closed with traditional sutures, according to the company.

Rather than just selling to hospitals, KitoTech targeted consumers who wanted to avoid going to the emergency room due to the risk of COVID-19 spread. It began selling on Amazon and the company’s vendor said microMend is its fastest-growing product ever.

KitoTech plans to use the fresh cash to expand commercialization of the microMend. The 5-person company has raised $9.5 million to date from undisclosed backers.

Berenson and former UW professor Marco Rolandi founded KitoTech in 2012 when Berenson was an entrepreneur-in-residence at the university. Berenson is a long-time Seattle-area entrepreneur who helped to build biotech companies CellPro and Xcyte Therapies. He has degrees from Stanford University and Yale Medical School.

KitoTech’s chairman is Edward Truitt III, the CEO of Lubris BioPharma and co-founder of Biological Dynamics.

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Inspired by son’s health issues, Seattle entrepreneur launches at-home ear-nose-throat monitor

Jane Zhang. (Remmie Health Photos)

Jane Zhang knew there had to be a better way.

Despite extra attention on hygiene and eating healthy, Zhang’s 2-year-old son was constantly getting ear infections and catching the common cold after starting childcare. He was forced to go through multiple rounds of antibiotics, several misdiagnoses, and many hours inside various doctor’s offices.

With a background in biomedical engineering and healthcare product R&D, Zhang began tinkering away in her garage. She wanted access to an ear-nose-throat (ENT) tool, similar to a otoscope used in doctor’s offices for decades, but one that could be used by parents inside their own home.

Fast forward to today and Zhang is now heading up a new Seattle startup called Remmie Health. The company is gearing up to launch its ENT monitor for families to assess symptoms such as an earache and communicate with health professionals via telemedicine.

The device can take images and videos of ENT-related issues, with that info sent to Remmie’s digital platform that can be accessed by doctors and nurses during a virtual visit. The idea is to get professional advice without needing to leave the home.

“We intend to become the go-to household brand for ENT ailment self-care,” Zhang said.

Zhang said ear infections are the most common reason for sick child visits, and said 30% of children between ages 0-6 have at least three or more infections per year, according to the National Institute of Health.

Remmie plans to make money by selling the device and sharing profit with telemedicine partners for recurring revenue.

The Seattle startup has landed more than $100,000 in initial funding, including capital from Silicon Valley firm Plug and Play Ventures.

Remmie is one of many telemedicine startups aiming to ride the trend of virtual healthcare that has accelerated amid the pandemic, as it enables treatment without forcing patients to come inside a physical office and risk exposure to COVID-19.

Zhang was previously a senior manager at Amgen and a healthcare consultant at ZS. She earned an MBA from UCLA and a PhD in biomedical engineering from Boston University. Zhang is currently an affiliate assistant professor at the University of Washington.

Other employees at Remmie Health include Zhan Wang, a Groupon and Concur veteran, and Zaris Shen, a former designer with Seattle startup AdaptiLab.

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Tasso raises $17M for self-sample blood test; CEO says pandemic increases demand for at-home tests

(Tasso Photo)

Seattle startup Tasso closed a $17 million investment round to help grow its at-home blood collection platform.

The company’s blood sample device, called Tasso OnDemand, lets people take their own blood at home and mail it to a lab directly rather than go to a clinic. This allows for more frequent testing to monitor a drug’s effects on the blood, for example, and also lets people submit samples without going into a physical office.

Tasso was started by Dr. Ben Casavant and Dr. Erwin Berthier, who both received doctorates in biomedical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“The coronavirus pandemic has underscored the surging demand for more diagnostic solutions that are patient-friendly and can be deployed easily at home,” Casavant, the company’s CEO, said in a statement. “The Tasso OnDemand devices are enabling people to be tested for COVID-19 and many other routine diagnostic applications, from anywhere at any time.”

Tasso has pilot programs with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Cedars-Sinai, and others. It is working with Fred Hutch to test for COVID-19 antibodies in serum as part of a study, with samples being mailed back from patients who don’t need to come into a clinic.

The 8-year-old company and Techstars grad developed its platform using $13.1 million of grant funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the National Institute of Health (NIH).

Quest and LabCorp dominate the diagnostics industry, which a number of startups have tried to disrupt through at-home or direct-to-consumer testing. EverlyWell, a startup that received funding through “Shark Tank” and offers a menu of health tests based on samples collected at home, has drawn scrutiny from experts over its accuracy. EveryWell sells an FDA-approved COVID-19 at-home test.

Other competitors include Scanwell, Thriva, WellnessFX, Baze, myLAB, LetsGetChecked, and more. A pair of Portland startup vets recently launched Reperio Health, a subscription service that will deliver a kit containing devices for testing health metrics.

Hambrecht Ducera Growth Ventures led the Series A round, which included participation from Foresite Capital, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Vertical Venture Partners, Techstars, and Cedars-Sinai. Elizabeth Hambrecht, partner at Hambrecht Ducera Growth Ventures, has joined Tasso’s board.

“With its talented team and proven technology platform, Tasso is poised to transform the traditional, painful, in-person blood draw process, which has been the standard of care for the past six decades,” Hambrecht said in a statement.

To date, Tasso has raised $38.6 million to date in grants, private investments, and co-development collaborations. It previously raised a $6.1 million round in March 2019.

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