T45 Fund-II Secures Investment from The O.H.I.O. Fund to Back Ohio Cardiovascular Company Building

T45 Labs, a company that builds and funds acquisition-ready cardiovascular companies by de-risking breakthrough technologies and steering them through clinical and regulatory milestones, has announced an investment in its T45 Fund-II through private funds advised by The O.H.I.O. Fund. The O.H.I.O. Fund is a private investment firm focused on generating returns while creating economic growth in Ohio. Terms were not disclosed, and the investment supports the continued development of T45 Labs’ portfolio of minimally invasive cardiovascular device companies, including those based in Cleveland, Ohio.

The investment reflects The O.H.I.O. Fund’s strategy of investing in industries where Ohio has established strengths, including healthcare and medtech, while supporting the state’s goals for long-term economic growth. T45 Labs was created by Founder and Managing Partner Marwan Berrada-Sounni, who previously served as senior director of product development at Cleveland Clinic’s Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center. T45’s first portfolio company, Advanced NanoTherapies, is advancing a next-generation drug-coated balloon technology with a dual-drug nanoparticle that was invented in and licensed from the Cleveland Clinic; the company manufactures its platform in Ohio and recently closed over $31 million in Series B funding. Earlier this year, T45 deepened its ties to the Cleveland Clinic through a partnership with Mitria Medical, a structural heart company founded by the institution, expanding its portfolio with the Subvalvular Spacer, an investigational transcatheter device for functional mitral regurgitation in an early clinical trial. The incubator’s portfolio also includes VahatiCor, a coronary sinus reducer therapy company, and NuevoSono, an intravascular ultrasound company.

Ray Leach, President of The O.H.I.O. Fund, said Ohio has tremendous healthcare and research assets, including institutions like the Cleveland Clinic that are producing medical innovations to meet patient needs. Leach noted that T45 brings the operating model and expertise to help turn those innovations into companies and move promising technologies toward the market, and that it is a great example of how Ohio’s research strengths can create new opportunities for investment and growth.

Marwan Berrada-Sounni, Founder and Managing Partner of T45 Labs, said the company focuses on de-risking proven cardiovascular technologies by improving on early concepts and guiding them through the clinical and regulatory milestones that lead to an exit. Berrada-Sounni noted that T45 Fund-II was built to accelerate this process, and that The O.H.I.O. Fund’s investment helps bring these technologies closer to the patients and physicians who need them.