Montréal-based medtech startup Puzzle Medical Devices has raised $43 million in a second Series A round to complete a clinical study of its heart pump for patients experiencing heart failure.
The all-equity round, which closed in March, was co-led by existing investor Desjardins Capital and newcomer KF Matheson, the family office of former Liberal leadership candidate Frank Baylis, executive chairman of Baylis Medical, and Kris Shah, Baylis Medical president. Existing investors Longview Ventures and BDC Capital also participated alongside new investor Lumira Ventures.
The ModulHeart is a minimally invasive heart pump to support proper heart and kidney function in patients with advanced heart failure.
Shah and Broadview Ventures principal David Prim are joining Puzzle’s board as part of the round. Lumira Ventures managing director Daniel Hétu and BDC Capital’s Steven Abrams are also becoming board observers.
“These funds will accelerate our mission to transform the treatment of advanced heart failure,” Jade Doucet-Martineau, CEO and co-founder of Puzzle Medical, said in a statement.
Puzzle Medical has developed the ModulHeart, a minimally invasive heart pump to support proper heart and kidney function in patients with advanced heart failure. The company also makes a portable hardware controller for the heart pump, as well as a software solution for healthcare professionals to monitor the function of the device. The device has not been approved by any regulatory body and is not yet for sale.
Puzzle Medical says the ModulHeart could provide a less-invasive alternative to a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), which pumps oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body when the heart isn’t healthy enough to do so. The risks of LVADs, which are often used to help ill heart-failure patients survive until a heart transplant, include excessive bleeding, stroke, and infection, which become more likely the longer a patient is using the device. The ModulHeart involves four-millimetre pumps arranged in parallel within the abdominal aorta, part of the largest artery in the body.
In 2022, Puzzle Medical completed its first in-human study with encouraging results. Four patients had ModulHeart inserted while undergoing high-risk heart procedures, and all patients saw improvements in cardiac and kidney function without complications.
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The fresh financing follows a $34-million Series A the company raised in 2023, which Puzzle Medical said was also to fund a human feasibility study for its heart pump. A human feasibility study ensures that the device works and is clinically safe, and is a step toward regulatory approval. Doucet-Martineau told BetaKit that the two rounds were raised at different valuations, but declined to disclose either amount.
At the time, investor Duke Rohlen, CEO of Cordis-X and Ajax Health, said Puzzle’s device represented “a truly novel solution to one of the most serious and difficult challenges in cardiovascular care.”
Puzzle Medical’s raise follows a trend of healthtech companies receiving funding in Québec, many of which have been supported by Investissement Québec, the provincial government’s fundraising arm.
Puzzle Medical says it will use the money to refine the heart pump, advance its human feasibility study to assess safety and efficacy, and scale the team from 45 to 60 people this year.
Doucet-Martineau anticipates raising a Series B to complete a pivotal study of the device, which would evaluate its safety and effectiveness in a larger number of patients. The plan is to then raise a Series C to fund go-to-market efforts and sell the device in 2029, she said.
Feature image courtesy Puzzle Medical.