Twin Cities venture firm raises another $425 million to fuel medtech companies

Venture capital firm Vensana Capital, headquartered in Minneapolis, has closed a $425 million fund to further fuel medtech startups, some of which are in the Twin Cities.

Founded in 2019, Vensana invests an average of $30 million to $35 million per company into startups such as Relievant Medsystems, which Boston Scientific purchased for an upfront payment of $850 million in 2023.

“Our investors have been very supportive and like the way our strategy has played out, which fortunately made for an efficient fundraising process,” co-founder and Managing Partner Kirk Nielsen said in an email.

That strategy: Investing primarily in medtech companies at both the developmental and commercial stages. Access to cash remains an issue for many startups in 2025, Nielsen said. Venture firms give these small companies access to capital and receive a return on their investment if the startups succeed by going public or getting acquired by a large corporation.

The latest fund brings Vensana’s total capital under management to approximately $1 billion, the company reports. It marks Vensana’s third fund and was oversubscribed at its hard cap.

The firm said in a news release it invests across all areas of medtech and focuses on companies that may create “new clinical standards of care while also helping to make healthcare more efficient, accessible, and cost-effective.”

Large medtech companies grow in part by acquiring companies with innovative products, and venture capital firms like Vensana provide the capital required for these products to reach inflection points, such as clinical studies or scaling revenue, when acquisitions most often occur, Neilsen said.

Nielsen said 20% of the companies Vensana has invested in have historically sat in the Twin Cities. In addition to Relievant, which commercialized a therapy for chronic back pain, these startups include CVRx, a now-public company commercializing an implant for patients with heart failure.

Vensana said in a news release it has partnered with more than 20 companies, with six exits generating $3 billion in value. Five of the partner companies were acquired.

Vensana has grown to 14 employees, and investors feel the firm is well-positioned in the category, Nielsen said.

“We are proud of the progress we’ve made in our 6 years since launch and are grateful to be a part of such an important and dynamic space,” Nielsen said.