SC Launch invests $300K in ElectroWire Medical startup

SC Launch Inc., the investment affiliate of the South Carolina Research Authority, has made a $300,000 investment in a Lexington-based medical device startup.

ElectroWire Medical is a startup that intends to revolutionize catheter-based, electrosurgical access to the left side of the heart during minimally invasive surgery, according to an SCRA news release.

“We are pleased to continue our partnership with ElectroWire,” said SCRA interim President and CEO Bill Kirkland, in the release. “Their progress represents a strong example of meaningful, market-driven innovation. We look forward to supporting their continued growth and to seeing their technology positively impact even more patients.”

ElectroWire became an SCRA member company in March of 2023 and received a $50,000 acceleration grant in February of this year. They became an SC Launch Inc. portfolio company with this investment.

Moved by the high cost and limited accessibility of existing transseptal puncture technology, Lexington-based cardiologist Dr. Robert Leonardi began developing a system to make the procedure more accessible, according to the news release. He started in his home with several rounds of trials, starting with an electrosurgical generator on the family’s ping pong table before perfecting the device.

“ElectroWire’s device is making the transseptal puncture safer and more efficient, SCRA Senior Investment Manager Mitch Smith said in the release. “This puncturing is a critical step in many catheter-based cardiac surgeries, such as atrial fibrillation ablation and Watchman procedures, which closes off the left atrial appendage in people with atrial fibrillation.”

“The LightningWire transseptal puncture system will help patients, their doctors and payors, and we appreciate the partnership with SCRA and SC Launch Inc. that is helping to commercialize it,” Leonardi said in the release. “Transseptal puncture is performed roughly 500,000 times annually in the United States and more than a million times globally. Our purpose-built system is expected to be safer, more precise, more efficient and more cost-effective than historical and currently available alternatives.”

SCRA Chief Program Officer Lee MacIlwinen said in the release: “ElectroWire’s device promises to not only provide better patient outcomes, but these improvements can mean shorter procedures, which can produce more efficiencies for hospitals and reduced costs overall.”

ElectroWire recently opened a manufacturing operation in Lexington with three employees and plans to grow to make tens of thousands of devices annually, the release stated.