Genesis Innovation Group and their cultivate(MD) Capital Fund I and cultivate(MD) Capital Fund II, funds focused on investments into early stage healthcare companies with innovative technologies, announce their investments into Grand Rapids, MI based HAPPE Spine, a company with a unique fully porous, bioactive PEEK implant.
Image: cultivate(MD) announces investment into HAPPE Spine. Photo: Courtesy of rawpixel from Pixabay.
This is the second round of financing for HAPPE in which Genesis and its cultivate(MD) Capital Funds have participated.
HAPPE Spine’s innovation began with Dr. Ryan K. Roeder at the University of Notre Dame who envisioned modifying PEEK to be both porous and bioactive to provide an optimal material for interbody spinal fusion. HAPPE’s implant solution marries these desired characteristics into a strong, bioactive, osteointegrative, and radiolucent material.
Doug Snell, Engineering Director at HAPPE Spine said, “HAPPE’s technology is commercializing a distinctive polymer technology. Our proprietary molding methods enable us to offer an implant material with fully interconnected porosity, including hydroxyapatite whisker exposure throughout the structure, allowing for the promotion of bony ingrowth onto and within the implant.” He added, “The manufacturing method enables the implant density or porosity to be advantageously varied to optimize both osteointegration and bio-mechanical loading.”
Dr. Ryan K. Roeder, inventor of the technology, said, “Our biomaterial and manufacturing technology has opened the door to new implant designs that surgeons quickly recognize as being intuitively advantageous but unlike anything else on the market. Excitement will continue to build in the year ahead with the release of our cervical implant and submission for regulatory approval.”
Matthew Milanowski , a HAPPE Spine board member said, “We are very excited to continue to innovate within the inter-body space and to work with our group of leading engineers and dedicated investors who are making a difference in this ever changing market. The continued support of our initial investors into this second round demonstrates their unwavering belief in the innovation taking place at HAPPE as we embark upon commercializing this new technology.”
Source: Company Press Release.