Justin Klein, MD, JD
Justin Klein is a co-founder and Managing Partner at Vensana Capital. Justin was previously a partner at NEA, where he was a leader of the firm's medical technology investing practice.
Full Bio Read LessJustin Klein, MD, JD, is a co-founder and Managing Partner at Vensana Capital, a leading venture capital and growth equity firm dedicated to medtech innovation. Justin was previously a partner and leader of the medical technology investing practice at NEA, one of the largest and most active venture capital firms in the world. Justin also worked at the Duke University Health System where his experience included roles in strategy, finance, and operations as Duke built one of the nation’s first integrated healthcare delivery systems. Justin currently or previously served on the board of directors of Apella, Cartiva (acquired), ChromaCode, Cleerly, Curate BioSciences, CV Ingenuity (acquired), Epix Therapeutics (acquired), Evident Vascular, Intact Vascular (acquired), Personal Genome Diagnostics (acquired), PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals (IPO), Relievant Medsystems (acquired), Senseonics (IPO), Topera (acquired), Ulthera (acquired), Vertiflex (acquired), Vesper Medical (acquired), and VytronUS (acquired). Justin currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association and that of AdvaMed Accel, where he is the Vice Chair of the Investor Advisory Committee of AdvaMed's board. Justin graduated with an AB in Economics, a BS in Biological Anthropology & Anatomy, and a Minor in Chemistry from Duke University. He also concurrently earned an MD from the Duke University School of Medicine and a JD from Harvard Law School.
Kirk Nielsen
Kirk Nielsen is a Managing Partner at Vensana Capital. Kirk co-founded Vensana as a Managing Director at Versant Ventures, where he led the firm's medtech practice.
Full Bio Read LessKirk Nielsen is a Managing Partner at Vensana Capital. Kirk co-founded Vensana in 2019 as a Managing Director at Versant Ventures, where he led the firm's medtech practice. He joined Versant in 2006 from Medtronic, where he worked in sales & marketing in the company’s Cardiac Rhythm Management division. Previously, he spent time at Fluidigm (a Versant portfolio company) and he also served as a consultant at Bain & Company, where he advised clients in healthcare, private equity, and other industries. Prior to his business career, Kirk was a professional hockey player. Kirk has led or co-led investments in numerous companies that have successfully exited, including Artelon (acquired), Biotie Therapies (acquired), Cameron Health (acquired), CardiAQ (acquired), Inari Medical (IPO), Lutonix (acquired), NeuWave Medical (acquired), Sequent Medical (acquired), and Veran Medical (acquired), and he remains active with Alleviant Medical, CVRx (IPO), Elucent Medical, iVEAcare, Moxe, Okami Medical, and SpyGlass Pharma. Kirk has also served as a member of the board of directors of the National Venture Capital Association. Kirk graduated with an AB in Biology from Harvard College, where he won the John P. Reardon award as the school's top scholar-athlete, and he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar.
Amrinder Singh
Amrinder Singh is a Partner at Vensana Capital. Amrin was previously a Senior Investment Director at Medtronic Ventures and brings over a decade of investment and operating experience to Vensana.
Full Bio Read LessAmrinder Singh is a Partner at Vensana Capital. Amrinder was previously a Senior Investment Director at Medtronic Ventures where he supported new investments in the medical device, diagnostics, and digital health spaces along with providing operational and board management support to portfolio companies. Prior to his investment career, Amrin led Business Development & Strategy for Medtronic’s remote monitoring and services businesses and was previously with the corporate strategy group. Before joining Medtronic, Amrin held product management and engineering positions at Thoratec Corporation. Amrin currently serves on the board of directors of iVEAcare and Nyra Medical. Amrin graduated from University of California, Davis in Biosystems Engineering and earned an MBA from Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management.
Cynthia Yee
Cynthia Yee is a Partner at Vensana Capital. Cynthia brings nearly two decades of investing, operating, and public equities experience to Vensana.
Full Bio Read LessCynthia Yee is a Partner at Vensana Capital. Cynthia brings nearly two decades of investing, operating, and public equities experience to Vensana. Prior to joining Vensana, she served as a Principal at Windham Venture Partners, where she led the firm’s investments in multiple companies, including Cartiva Medical (acquired), ClarVista Medical (acquired), Personal Genome Diagnostics (acquired) and NeuSpera Medical. She was previously an investor at NEA working across its medtech and healthcare services practices, and she spent time in business development and strategic marketing at Epix Therapeutics and medtech incubator D3DC. Cynthia began her career in public equities, covering medical devices at Piper Jaffray and biotechnology at Pacific Growth Equities. Cynthia currently serves on the board of directors of Evident Vascular and SpyGlass Pharma. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a BA in Integrative Biology and a BS in Business Administration at the Haas School of Business.
Greg Banker
Greg Banker is a Partner at Vensana Capital. Greg brings over a decade of investing, operating and consulting experience to Vensana.
Full Bio Read LessGreg Banker is a Partner at Vensana Capital. Greg brings over a decade of investing, operating, and consulting experience to Vensana. Prior to joining Vensana, Greg served as Director of Strategic Market Development at Vertiflex, an interventional spine medical device company that was acquired by Boston Scientific in 2019. Greg's prior experience includes his work as an Associate Director at Navigant Consulting, where he advised medtech CEOs and boards of directors on over two dozen strategic market assessments across a range of sectors including cardiology, interventional pain, orthopedics, neurology, and robotic surgery. Greg currently serves on the board of directors of Artelon and Elucent Medical. He graduated with a BS in Biology from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Mike Kramer
Mike Kramer is a Partner at Vensana Capital. Mike brings over 20 years of experience in operations, finance, and accounting to Vensana.
Full Bio Read LessMike Kramer is a Partner at Vensana Capital. Mike brings over 20 years of experience in operations, finance, and accounting to Vensana. Prior to joining Vensana in 2021, Mike was an Operating Partner at CRG LP, a leading provider of structured debt and equity capital for growth stage healthcare companies, where he advised on multiple medtech company investments and worked directly with the boards of CRG’s portfolio companies. Previously, Mike has served as CFO or COO at private and public medical device companies including Endologix, TriVascular (IPO, acquired), and ATS Medical (IPO, acquired). In addition, he served as a manager in the assurance and advisory services practice at Ernst & Young LLP. Mike currently serves on the board of directors of Okami Medical. Mike is a certified public accountant (inactive) and received a Bachelor of Accountancy from the University of North Dakota.
Allison King
Allison King is an Investment Professional at Vensana Capital. Allison brings finance, deal execution, and capital markets experience to Vensana.
Full Bio Read LessAllison King is an Investment Professional at Vensana Capital. Allison brings finance, deal execution, and capital markets experience to Vensana. Prior to joining Vensana, she served as an Investment Banking Vice President at Bank of America in the Global Healthcare group, where she gained extensive experience advising medtech companies on M&A transactions and equity financings. She was previously a healthcare IT consultant, advising hospital systems on the optimization of their electronic health record software. Allison graduated with a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and earned an MBA from Duke University, Fuqua School of Business.
Petra Gorombei
Petra Gorombei, PhD, is an Investment Professional at Vensana Capital. Petra brings extensive experience overseeing large-scale global clinical trials and clinical operations to Vensana.
Full Bio Read LessPetra Gorombei, PhD, is an Investment Professional at Vensana Capital. Petra brings extensive experience overseeing large-scale global clinical trials and clinical operations to Vensana. Prior to joining Vensana, Petra served as a Clinical Evidence Director at ZOLL Medical, a global medical device company, where she led clinical evidence generation strategies to support new product launches for ZOLL’s cardiac management solutions business. She also spent considerable time in the field engaging with customers and the commercial team, while also supporting due diligence processes for corporate investments and acquisitions. Petra earned her PhD in cancer research from Paris Diderot University and is currently completing an Executive MBA at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
Bill Hoffman
Bill Hoffman is a Venture Partner at Vensana Capital. Bill currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Inari Medical, where he held the CEO role from 2015 until 2022.
Full Bio Read LessBill Hoffman is a Venture Partner at Vensana Capital. Bill currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Inari Medical, where he held the CEO role from 2015 until 2022, leading the company through its initial public offering and helping to establish it as the global leader in the treatment of venous thromboembolism. He previously served as CEO at Visualase, a private company focused on MRI-guided laser ablation for the treatment of epilepsy and brain cancer, from 2008 until its acquisition by Medtronic in 2014. Prior to this, Bill served as VP Sales at FoxHollow Technologies, which pioneered atherectomy to treat peripheral artery disease and was acquired by ev3 in 2007. Bill received a BA in Economics from Dickinson College.
Steve Schwen
Steve Schwen is a Partner and Chief Financial Officer at Vensana Capital. Steve has over 25 years of finance and operations management experience within venture capital and private equity organizations.
Full Bio Read LessSteve Schwen is a Partner and Chief Financial Officer at Vensana Capital. Steve has over 25 years of finance and operations management experience within venture capital and private equity organizations. Prior to joining Vensana, Steve served as a CFO Partner with Aduro Advisors, a venture capital fund administrator. Previously, he was CFO of Split Rock Partners and its predecessor firm, St. Paul Venture Capital, with responsibility for all areas of fund operations, finance, compliance, investor relations, information technology, and human resources. Steve began his career at KPMG providing audit and consulting services to financial services companies. He graduated with a BA in Business Administration – Accounting from the University of St. Thomas and is a licensed CPA (inactive).
Maggie Sullivan
Maggie Sullivan is a Senior Operations Associate at Vensana Capital. Maggie was previously an Associate at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, and she brings financial analysis, relationship management, and operations experience to Vensana.
Full Bio Read LessMaggie Sullivan is a Senior Operations Associate at Vensana Capital. Maggie’s responsibilities include investment process support, financial analysis, investor relations, and operations management. Prior to joining Vensana, Maggie worked as an Associate at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, where she provided comprehensive wealth management support to clients with complex financial needs. Maggie graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration and Certificate in Spanish Studies from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and she has passed the Level I and Level II CFA exams.
Elise Erkens
Elise Erkens is an Executive Assistant in our Minneapolis, MN office and brings over 7 years of experience supporting senior management to Vensana.
Full Bio Read LessElise Erkens is an Executive Assistant in our Minneapolis, MN office and brings over 7 years of experience supporting senior management to Vensana. Prior to joining Vensana, Elise spent 3 years at TripleTree, a healthcare investment bank, and 4 years at Värde Partners, a global firm specializing in alternative investments. She graduated with a BA in Child Psychology from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.
Kristie Fox
Kristie Fox is an Executive Assistant in our Vienna, VA office and brings over 20 years of experience supporting senior management to Vensana.
Full Bio Read LessKristie Fox is an Executive Assistant in our Vienna, VA office and brings over 20 years of experience supporting senior management to Vensana. Prior to joining Vensana, Kristie spent 12 years at NEA in various roles within their healthcare team, where she supported Justin Klein. Preceding NEA, Kristie worked at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers within their life sciences team. She graduated with a BA degree in Communication Studies from The University of Montana.
Neilly Newman
Neilly Newman is an Executive Assistant in our Minneapolis, MN Office and brings over 20 years of experience supporting senior management to Vensana.
Full Bio Read LessNeilly Newman is an Executive Assistant in our Minneapolis, MN office and brings over 20 years of experience supporting senior management to Vensana. Prior to joining Vensana, Neilly spent over 6 years at Versant Ventures, where she supported Kirk Nielsen. Preceding Versant, Neilly was an executive assistant at Polycom and Electronic Arts. She graduated with a BS degree in Psychology from Santa Clara University.
Advisors
Our team of advisors is comprised of senior operating executives, entrepreneurs, and policy experts from across the medtech sector. Each of these advisors has served as a trusted partner to us or to our companies, often multiple times. They have helped shape the medtech industry and are committed to supporting our entrepreneurs as they build the next generation of great medtech companies.
CEO, Presidio Medical
CEO, Oculeve
CEO, Metavention
CEO, Torax Medical
CEO, Alleviant Medical
CEO, TVA Medical
Managing Director & Chairman, Versant Ventures
CEO, Atritech
CEO, Endocardial Solutions
Vice Chairman/Founder, ForSight Labs
Professor of Ophthalmology, UCSF
CEO Nalu Medical
CEO, VertiFlex
President, J&J DePuy Spine
CEO, Inari Medical
CEO, Visualase
CEO, CVRx
CEO, Bardy Diagnostics
CEO, Relievant Medsystems
CEO, Cameron Health
Co-Founder, SpyGlass Pharma
Co-Founder, ClarVista Medical
CEO, GT Medical Technologies
CEO, Ulthera
CEO, Voyant Biotherapeutics
CEO, ForSight Vision 4
CEO, ForSight Vision 5
CFO, Aldevron
CFO, Tornier
COO, Lutonix
Partner, Knobbe Martens
CEO, Cleerly Health
Director, Dalio Institute of Cardiovascular Imaging
Chairman, Relievant Medsystems
CEO, Kyphon
Board Director, Baxter
Board Director, Paragon 28
SVP Medicine & Technology, Medtronic
CEO, Cartiva
CEO, Proxima Therapeutics
CEO, Sonex Health
CEO, VentureMed
CEO, NxThera
CEO, Vesper Medical
CEO, Intact Vascular
CEO, Neuronetics
CEO, Enterra Medical
CEO, Respicardia
GM, Boston Sci EP
President, J&J Biosense Webster
CEO, Topera
COO & CFO, Kyphon
CEO, Outset Medical
CCO, Lutonix
CEO, Nuvaira
CEO, Lutonix
CEO, Velocimed
CEO, VS3 Medical
CEO, Neuros Medical
CEO, Sequent Medical
CEO, CVRx
GM, Medtronic Navigation
