Nimbus Synergies appoints Nancy Harrison to its Board of Directors to strengthen its position in Canadian Health Tech

Nimbus Synergies, investor, partner, and mentor to Canada’s most promising health technology companies, is pleased to announce the appointment of Nancy Harrison to the Board of Directors. Nancy is a nationally recognized life sciences entrepreneur and investor with almost 30 years of experience as an innovator and leader in the sector.

“I am excited to join the Board of Nimbus Synergies and work more closely with a team who is deeply committed to sourcing the most promising investment opportunities and partnering with inspiring health innovators and entrepreneurs to drive impactful health outcomes,” said Nancy Harrison.

Nancy is a Vancouver-based Venture Partner with Amplitude Ventures. She previously spent more than a decade as a Co-Founder and President of MSI Methylation Sciences, growing it from a nascent startup to raising over USD $70M during her tenure. Prior to her accomplishments at MSI, Nancy spent 14 years as a Senior Vice President and Partner with Ventures West Management, BC’s pioneer Venture Capital firm responsible for significant contributions to the BC tech industry. Nancy led the life sciences team, growing its portfolio allocation from zero to over 30 percent of Venture West’s total investments. During her time with Ventures West, the firm grew from approximately $80 million to $750 million. Nancy also serves on a number of other ecosystem Boards for organizations such as adMare BioInnovations, Genome BC’s Industry Innovation Program (I2), and BIOTECanada Emerging Company Advisory Board . Nancy is also a Fellow with Creative Destruction Labs (CDL) - Vancouver.

“Nancy is a well-respected and celebrated champion of Canada’s life sciences sector and has been a significant contributor to its promotion and growth for nearly three decades. Her expertise as both a venture capitalist and a seasoned operator as well as her alignment with our aspirations make her an important addition to our Board of Directors” says Paul Geyer, CEO, Nimbus Synergies. “I look forward to her contributions as we execute on our ambitions to be Canada’s most impactful health technology venture capital firm.”

With an MBA from McGill and an Engineering degree from Queens, Nancy is a recipient of the 2020 Milton Wong Leadership Award from Life Sciences BC, the 2020 PEAK Award for Excellence in Leadership from the Association of Women in Finance, CDL-Vancouver Fellow of the Year in 2019, and has previously been named to the Globe & Mail’s Top 40 under 40 in Canada.

Nancy’s appointment coincides with long-time technology pioneer and thought leader Greg Peet’s retirement from Nimbus’ Board, where he served for the past five years. Greg’s advocacy of the need for increased early-stage capital in British Columbia’s innovation ecosystem was persuasive in establishing Nimbus’ purpose.

“Greg’s passion, commitment, and mentorship to our organization and especially our investment team has been exemplary and instrumental as it has grown and matured over the last few years,” reflected Paul Geyer. “While his insights and contributions will be missed, we wish him the greatest success and fulfillment in his future endeavours.”

ABOUT NIMBUS SYNERGIES

Nimbus Synergies leads early-stage financings in innovative and complementary health technology companies in Canada. By bringing these companies together to share resources, industry specific knowledge, and relationships, Nimbus is accelerating their growth and increasing their likelihood of success. Nimbus is significantly impacting the health technology sector through its leadership as investor, partner, and mentor.

 

Nimbus Synergies Co-Leads $2.26 Million Investment in Arbutus Medical to Accelerate Market Adoption of Skeletal Traction Innovation

Nimbus Synergies is pleased to announce the completion of a $2.26 million follow-on investment in portfolio company Arbutus Medical. This investment was led by Nimbus Synergies and Genome BC’s Industry Innovation (I²) Fund to support the commercialization of Arbutus Medical’s TrakPak® – a complete single-use procedure kit that contains everything a surgeon needs for skeletal traction. Syndicate partners for this financing round included Canadian health tech and impact investment funds MEDTEQ Invest, ScaleGood Impact Fund, and ThresholdImpact.

Arbutus Medical, in partnership with DEWALT®, expands the potential applications for high-quality power tools transforming them into sterile surgical drills for hospitals and field settings using its innovative surgical drill technology. This technology eliminates the need for hospitals to sterilize a drill between surgeries, providing a significant cost and time advantage compared to conventional sterilizable drills.

TrakPak® is our first consumable procedure kit designed to streamline an orthopaedic trauma procedure called skeletal traction commonly used to help treat femur and pelvis fractures,” said Lawrence Buchan, CEO of Arbutus Medical. “By bundling everything in one sterile-packed kit alongside our drills, we believe surgeons can save upwards of 45 minutes per patient. This reduces staff frustration with lengthy procedure times and improves the patient experience.”

To date, Arbutus Medical’s products have been used by customers in 40 countries enabling an estimated 85,000 surgeries. The solution has been cleared by the FDA and Health Canada.

“Arbutus’ positive impact for patients across so many diverse medical settings around the world has been remarkable and a privilege to witness and support as its largest investor,” said Paul Geyer, CEO of Nimbus Synergies. “This financing will support Arbutus’ launch and rapid scale-up of the next generation of TrakPak® this year as it aims to set a new standard of care for skeletal traction across Trauma Centers in the U.S. and beyond.”

Beyond skeletal traction, Arbutus Medical sees a significant market opportunity to develop a complete portfolio of sterile-packed procedure kits alongside their surgical drill platform to help surgeons and patients in many contexts from Trauma Centers’ ERs to Ambulatory Surgery Centers, veterinarians, and hospitals worldwide.

ABOUT NIMBUS SYNERGIES

Nimbus Synergies leads early-stage financings in innovative and complementary health technology companies in Canada. By bringing these companies together to share resources, industry specific knowledge, and relationships, Nimbus is accelerating their growth and increasing their likelihood of success. Nimbus is significantly impacting the health technology sector through its leadership as investor, partner, and mentor.

ABOUT ARBUTUS MEDICAL

Arbutus Medical Inc. is a privately held ISO13485 medical device company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Arbutus Medical is developing innovative surgical drill technology and sterile-packed orthopaedic procedure kits that save time and money for hospitals. The company is currently focused on improving the standard of care for bedside skeletal traction surgeries that help treat orthopaedic trauma in the ERs of large Trauma Centers. Arbutus Medical’s TrakPak® skeletal traction procedure kit (which includes its patented DrillCover Technology, SteriGo® power tool drape, SteriTrak® traction pin driving system, and QuikBow™ pin tensioner) has received regulatory clearances from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada. In addition to its premium skeletal traction solution, the company distributes a line of surgical drills available at accessible price points to customers around the globe.

Follow Nimbus Synergies on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/nimbus-synergies) and Twitter @nimbussynergies