San Antonio-based medical device start-up Hera Biotech has closed an oversubscribed $1.9 million seed financing round to support the company’s commercialization strategy for its non-surgical diagnostic test for endometriosis, MetriDx. The funds will be used to complete an in-patient human clinical study, expand Hera’s IP portfolio, and support a regulatory pathway with the US FDA.
Investors in this round include primarily female supporters from individual sources and investment firms Coyote Ventures, Stella Angels, Althea Group Ventures, and the Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute. The company intends to kick off a Series A raise of $15 million in late 2022 to support commercial launch of its product in 2024.
“Our seed round was oversubscribed by nearly 100% from our original goal – which is an enthusiastic validation of our technology and the need for a solution for this pervasive and persistent, yet unsolved problem, in women’s health,” says company Founder and CEO Somer Baburek, MBA.
According to the Mayo Clinic, “Endometriosis is an often-painful disorder in which tissue similar to the tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus – the endometrium – grows outside your uterus.” Endometriosis typically involves other pelvic organs and can spread elsewhere in the body.
“The Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute (KS WELI) at The University of Texas at Austin is thrilled to be part of Hera Biotech’s successful seed round through their wins at our Fall 2021 Female Founder Pitch Competition and Spring 2022 Dream to Venture events,” says Lesley Robinson, director of the KS WELI. “We are dedicated to supporting empowered women with the entrepreneurial spirit that can change the world, and Hera’s mission shines an important light on women’s health.”
