Author: Gavin Penny

ClearFit Inc., a developer of human resources software for the construction, retail, restaurant, hospitality, and franchise industries, has raised C$7 million in Series A financing from GrandBanks Capital and Relay Ventures. ClearFit, which has offices in San Francisco and Toronto, previously raised C$1.7 million in late 2012 from Relay and a group of Toronto-based investors.

PRESS RELEASE

ClearFit Secures $7 Million in Series A Funding

Funding from GrandBanks Capital and Relay Ventures will help ClearFit to grow team and fix North America’s hiring problem for the construction, retail, restaurant, hospitality, and franchise industries.

TORONTO – March 21, 2013 – ClearFit, the company that makes it easy for organizations to find and hire the best person, has closed a $7 million Series A round of funding from GrandBanks Capital and Relay Ventures.

Over eight thousand businesses use ClearFit. The company offers a free trial that can be set up in a quarter of the time of a traditional job posting, then — with partners like Monster.com and CareerBuilder — helps find candidates. ClearFit’s patented software then uses data analysis to predict employment success five times better than traditional hiring, all included in the cost of a regular job posting.

Tim Wright, partner with GrandBanks Capital, will join the ClearFit board. Wright has over twenty years of operating experience in various technology industries and his significant operational experience and work in the human capital management (HCM) space offer strategic alignment with ClearFit’s focus on small businesses.

“Small businesses are inadequately served by large, enterprise hiring software. ClearFit puts enterprise-class capabilities within reach and tailors them directly to the needs of small business owners,” said Tim Wright, partner with GrandBanks Capital. “They are addressing a massive sector of the economy that does not have a capable solution.”

ClearFit addresses a $60 billion underserved market, delivering a tailored hiring solution to construction, retail, restaurant, hospitality, and franchise customers. The company previously raised $1.7 million in late 2012 with investments from Relay Ventures and a group of prominent Toronto investors.

“We’ve experienced incredible growth this year and we’re scaling ClearFit to keep up with demand,” said Jamie Schneiderman, co-founder of ClearFit. “Scaling this quickly would be impossible without our own product to help us find the best people for our culture.”

ClearFit is building a unique organizational structure, designed to appeal to entrepreneurial talent. According to Ben Baldwin, co-founder of ClearFit, “an increasing number of enterprising young people are choosing incubators and accelerators over continuing school or traditional entry level jobs. We’re attracting this talent by allowing young entrepreneurs to run a vertical business within ClearFit.”

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

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DC Devices Inc. has raised US$9 Million from a consortium of investors. Lumira Capital joined the financing along with existing investors Third Rock Ventures and General Catalyst. Gerry Brunk, managing director of Lumira, joined the company’s board of directors. Tewksbury, Mass.-based DC Devices, a medical device company for the treatment of congestive heart failure, has been venture-backed since 2009.

PRESS RELEASE:

DC Devices Inc., an innovative medical device company developing first-in-class structural heart devices, today announced that it has secured $9 million in financing. Lumira Capital joined the financing along with the company’s existing investors Third Rock Ventures and General Catalyst, and Gerry Brunk, managing director of Lumira Capital, has joined the DC Devices board of directors. This financing will support DC Devices’ accelerated development and ongoing clinical evaluation of the first trans-catheter

device for the treatment of diastolic heart failure (DHF), also known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

“Patients suffering from diastolic heart failure have no effective treatment options today, and a mortality rate that rivals that of cancer,” said Mr. Brunk. “With heart failure representing the single largest cause of hospitalizations in many countries, and the largest cost line item in the U.S. Medicare budget, new therapies are desperately needed. We’re very excited to support the DC Devices team in its effort to bring a potentially transformative new therapy to patients.”

DC Devices’ proprietary, minimally invasive InterAtrial Shunt Device (IASD™) system is the first device intended to treat DHF/HFpEF. The IASD system works to relieve increased left atrial pressure, the main cause of DHF/HFpEF symptoms, by placing a permanent implant in the atrial septum designed to reduce the elevated pressure and relieve symptoms. The innovative IASD system allows physicians to perform this trans-catheter treatment without open-heart surgery and
in a controlled fashion using standard interventional cardiology techniques.

“This is an exciting time of growth and progress for DC Devices, as we have completed our firstin-human safety studies and are currently enrolling a European pilot trial for our proprietary IASD system,” said George Fazio, president and chief executive officer of DC Devices. “We expect to make rapid advances this year, as we work toward our goal of developing a new, minimally-invasive and permanent device for the treatment of DHF/HFpEF that is designed to be cost-effective, and could dramatically improve patients’ quality of life while significantly reducing hospitalization costs.”

Mr. Brunk joins the current DC Devices board of directors, which includes: David Celermajer, M.D., co-founder, DC Devices; George Fazio, chief executive officer, DC Devices; Paul LaViolette, partner, SV Life Sciences, who serves as chairman; Mark Levin, partner, Third Rock Ventures; and Hemant Taneja, managing director, General Catalyst.

About DC Devices 

DC Devices is dedicated to revolutionizing the treatment of heart failure with first-in-class structural heart devices. The company is developing the first trans-catheter device for diastolic heart failure (DHF), also known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). It

s proprietary and innovative InterAtrial Shunt Device (IASD™) system is minimally invasive and is designed to relieve increased left atrial pressure (LAp), the main cause of DHF/HFpEF symptoms. The IASD system is designed to be cost-effective and is intended to dramatically improve patients’ quality of life while significantly reducing hospitalization costs. The IASD System is currently under clinical investigation outside the U.S., and is not available in the U.S. for investigational use or commercial distribution. Founded by experienced and proven leaders in the interventional cardiology space and medical device industry, DC Devices is funded by leading investors Third Rock Ventures, General Catalyst and Lumira Capital. The company is headquartered in Tewksbury, Mass. For more information, please visit www.dcdevicesinc.com.

Photo courtest of Shutterstock.

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