Medtech company booster Ajax Health is back with reinforcements in the shape of $85 million in new venture funding. Led once again by founder and entrepreneur Duke Rohlen and dubbed Ajax Health II, the firm helps build out and support medical device developers and healthcare technology companies.
Its latest $85 million raise—marshaled by HealthQuest Capital alongside participation from Aisling Capital and Polaris Partners—will be used to help identify potentially disruptive startups and de-risk their products toward the ultimate goal of achieving an exit within four years.
To get its portfolio companies to their merger, sale or IPO, Ajax provides C-suite management services, human resources and financial capital, but does not host them in its own facilities, akin to an incubator.
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First formed in 2017 with a $95 million investment from KKR, Aisling and Rohlen himself, Ajax went on to raise another $120 million last July to fuel its entrepreneurial endeavors.
At that time, a company spokesperson told FierceMedTech that Ajax focuses largely on tech related to heart rhythm electrophysiology, including diagnostic tools and therapeutic products, as well as structural heart interventions, with its eye on opportunities in the ENT space.
In 2017, the Menlo Park, California-based Ajax invested in EPIX Therapeutics, then known as Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics, through a $45 million venture round. EPIX, along with its radiofrequency-based cardiac ablation platform, was bought out by Medtronic this past January for an undisclosed amount.
Rohlen previously lead the peripheral artery disease-focused FoxHollow Technologies and drug-coated balloon developer CV Ingenuity, which were sold for a combined total of more than $1 billion. He also served as CEO of nasal implant manufacturer Spirox, now owned by Stryker.