Baird Venture Partners Lead $11.5 Million Investment in Series B Funding Round for Core Essence Orthopedics

Based in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, Core Essence Orthopedics is a company which develops orthopedic devices for high volume medical procedures in sports medicine that involve both soft tissues and skeletal repairs of an athlete’s extremities. The company announced on March 21, 2011, that it has secured an $11.5 million investment in a series B funding round led by Baird Venture Partners. Other investors who participated in the funding round include the company’s existing investors, who include NewSpring Capital, Robin Hood Ventures, and other individual undisclosed private investors.

Devoted to sports medicine and high impact injuries that can often happen to those who engage in high intensity contact sports, Core Essence has devoted its production to developing and marketing orthopedic devices that can help injured athletes return to their prime condition they had prior to the injury. In many cases athletes can incur a wide variety of injuries when on the playing field, which can range from fractures to torn ligaments. Core Essence has developed orthopedic devices that can aid surgeons in performing less invasive surgeries involving the soft tissue and bone structure of the extremities. Two of the main devices that the company has developed include those for healing injuries to both the upper and lower extremities.

Upper extremities include an athlete’s shoulders, arms, wrists, and hands and lower extremities include an athlete’s hips, legs, knees, ankles, and feet. These are the typical parts of an athlete’s body that get injured in the sport. One of the devices used in surgeries to repair injuries to the shoulders is the TACtite. This is actually a knotless suture that can be used to repair torn ligaments in the shoulder and works by suturing the injured ligaments in the shoulders while being anchored to the bone. The suture itself has an effective anchoring system, where it does not require the surgeon to tie a knot when he has finished suturing the injury. According to the company’s website, the TACtite suture protects the bone’s surface, has superior footprint pressure, and intelligent locking eyelet. The best feature of this suture is that it is easily removable and maintains tension, and more.

Seg-Way is another orthopedic device that Core Essence has developed for sports related injuries to the hand and wrist. This device works by having a synchronized endoscopic guide system. This works by allowing the surgeon to guide an endoscope in the ulnar zone, which gives the surgeon a better field of view, thus requiring a smaller incision and allow for perfect positioning in areas of the hand or wrist where the injury may need to be sutured.

For the lower extremities, there is also a TACtite suture for the foot and ankle also. This suture works very similarly to the TACtite suture for the shoulder. This allows for the suture to be tied without a knot and helps heal the injured tendon and adhere to the bone. The suture also has an intelligent locking eyelet and other of the similar features as the TACtite for the shoulder. The difference is that the foot and ankle TACtite suture is specifically designed for foot and ankle injuries. Core Essence also develops a wide variety of other orthopedic devices for the legs as well.

Along with orthopedic devices, the company also develops tools that surgeons can use to help perform the surgeries and affix the devices where needed.

According to the CEO and chairman of Core Essence, John Moran, the team at Core Essence is very excited about developing a new partnership with Baird Venture Partners together with the ongoing support of the company’s existing investors. Mr. Moran further added that there is a rising demand for new and innovative ideas in making orthopedic surgeries easier and be less invasive and thus less painful for the patient. The proceeds from this funding round will help Core Essence to continue to meet this growing demand.

Pete Shagory of Baird Venture Partners further added that the market that Core Essence has attacked is the most demanding and lucrative market in orthopedic medicine. That is the market of sports medicine and orthopedic medicine of the extremities. The fact that Core Essence has a novel portfolio of different products, the company provides an unmet need to orthopedic surgeons who are constantly looking for better surgical devices to make surgeries more easier and less painful for their patients.

As part of the agreement of this funding round, Mr. Shagory will join the company’s board of directors. He was further welcomed by Mr. Zev Scherl, who is a general partner of NewSpring Capital and also a member of Core Essence’s board of directors.

Baird Venture Partners is a private equity firm that is subsidized by the Robert W. Baird & Company. The firm has a global presence with offices across the United States, Asia, and Europe. Baird Venture Partners is actually the US based arm of Baird Private Equity, which is the firm’s name on the global venture capital and private equity scene. Other companies in Baird’s portfolio include Accume Partners, American Auto Auction Group, Backyard Discovery, MedData, New Vitality, Pentagon Technologies Group, and others.

NewSpring Capital is a private equity firm that is headquartered in Randor, Pennsylvania, and has other offices in Short Hills, New Jersey, Washington, DC, and Baltimore, Maryland. The firm primarily invests private equity in companies who are located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. NewSpring currently has over $600 million in committed capital within three investment strategies in a strong private family of funds managed by the firm. NewSpring Capital primarily invests in companies who are in the healthcare industry. Other companies in NewSpring Capital’s portfolio include Continuing Care Rx, EKR Therapeutics, CorridorPharma, Nitric Bio Therapeutics, RedPath Integrated Pathology, and others.