BeatBio, a Seattle life sciences startup led by former Vulcan Capital managing director Michael Kranda and former VieVax CTO Gregory Mahairas, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding from CET Capital Partners, the W Fund and others.
The new funds will be used to move the company’s gene therapy product into clinical trials, an experimental offering that’s designed to improve cardiac performance during heart failure. The company says that its technology is based on a naturally occurring enzyme that acts as a “super fuel” to increase the pumping power of heart muscles.
Treated hearts pump more blood under resting conditions and under increased cardiac workloads, the company said.
The technology was developed by an interdisciplinary research team at the University of Washington led by Charles Murry, Director of the UW Center for Cardiovascular Biology. It has also received funs from the National Institutes of Health.
BeatBio holds an exclusive license to the technologies.
“It is reassuring to know that high quality, promising but early stage companies can still be funded in today’s investment environment,” said Kranda in a statement. As a result of the investment, Craig Tall of CET Capital Partners will join the board.
