Date: Apr 04, 2018 Author: Katharine Grayson Source: (
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A startup that's developed a high-tech shoe insert for preventing falls has raised $7.5 million to fund clinical trials and prepare for a product launch.
The Eden Prairie-based company, RxFunction Inc., makes Walkasins, a device that pairs foot pads inserted in shoes with a leg cuff that vibrates when a patient sways or shows other signs of losing balance. The company aims to assist patients suffering from peripheral neuropathy, a condition that causes numbness in hands and legs, increasing the risk of falls.
RxFunction raised the recent round of funding through a private placement led by Edina-based Cedar Point Capital. An undisclosed private equity investor also participated, said RxFunction CEO Tom Morizio.
Morizio, a former president and CEO of Acist Medical Systems, joined RxFunction late last year. Lars Oddsson and Dan Leach co-founded the company, which developed and tested its product with funding from the National Institutes of Health.
The company won a $1 million NIH grant in 2013 and tested the device at the Minneapolis VA Hospital. That study found patients wearing the Walkasins improved their performance on a 30-point gait-assessment test by an average of four points.
RxFunction initially set out to raise $5 million in its recent round of funding, but beat that goal partly because it already had study results and a well-developed product, Morizio said. "The company had a good story to tell from a fundraising standpoint."
RxFunction will have to register its device with the Food and Drug Administration, but won't have to send the product through the agency's 510(k) clearance process. The startup expects to register the product over the summer.
The company also plans to gather more data through a larger clinical trial, and start a soft commercial product launch in the fourth quarter.
Those efforts will require the RxFunction to ramp up hiring. The business has seven full-time employees and that number may grow to between 15 and 20 by the end of the year, Morizio said.
The company has built out its executive team in recent months. In addition to hiring Morizio, it tapped Mary Anderson to serve as its chief financial officer. She previously held executive roles at Minneapolis-based Tactile Medical, which went public in 2016, and medical-device maker Advanced Respiratory Inc.
