Relievant knows how to make an entrance. The medical-device company announced Tuesday that it planned to move its headquarters from California to Minnesota after closing on a $58 million Series E round of funding.
Relievant will relocate from its current home in Sunnyvale, California to Bloomington later this summer, the Biz Journal reports. The company has less than 10 employees here today, but could hire up to 20 in the Twin Cities within the next year. Relievant has around 40 employees nationwide, and will maintain its research and development operations in California.
News of Relievant's move comes less than a year after the company made a key hire, bringing former Metavention CEO Kevin Hykes on as its CEO. Around the time Hykes joined Relievant, he told the Business Journal that he was considering opening an office in Minnesota. Under Hykes' leadership, Metavation also relocated from California to Minnesota.
Prior to joining Metavention, Hykes was CEO of Cameron Health, a developer of pacemakers which was sold to Boston Scientific in a deal worth up to $1.4 billion in 2012. He was also an operating partner at Versant Ventures and is a former Medtronic executive.
Relievant was founded in 2006 and makes technology that treats lower back pain by destroying a nerve embedded in vertebrae. The company's system, Intracept Prodcedure, has been cleared for use by the Food and Drug Administration. Metavation will use its recent round to fund ongoing clinical studies and to launch Intracept in the United States.
Relievant's $58 million equity round was led by Endeavor Vision, a European investment firm. The company's previous investors, New Enterprise Associates, Canaan Ventures, Lightstone Ventures and Emergent Ventures, also participated.
