Nanochon, a Washington, DC-based orthopedic device biotech company has raised $4 million in its series seed prime fundraising round.

The round was led by The University of Virginia Licensing and Ventures Group Seed Fund, with participation from Cultivate (MD), Alumni Venture Group, and Mountain State Capital, among others.

Nanochon intends to use the funds to initiate its first in human clinical trials in the US in 2024, deepen research and development efforts, expand the company’s patent profile and grow its team.

“We’re thrilled to close our funding round and begin our clinical program,” says Ben Holmes, CEO and co-founder. “Securing this funding is one step closer towards achieving Nanochon’s goals of eliminating the need for knee replacements, and greatly shifting the paradigm of arthritic joint care.”

Nanochon will initiate a phase I trial in the US this year for its patented knee implant Chondrograft™. The device requires only minimally invasive surgery to regrow damaged cartilage and bone to stave off the need for full knee replacements which are costly and have a long recovery time.

Holmes follows, “We’ve had fantastic success in our animal studies and we’re very optimistic about future implications in human knees and other joints.”

Nanochon is a biotech and medical device company focused on developing innovative orthopedic solutions. Chondrograft™ is a minimally-invasive implant that allows for immediate weight-bearing and motion – meaning less time spent recovering. Nanochon has the potential to deliver more successful and longer-lasting recovery for patients than current standard of care. Our mission is to develop a new approach to treat cartilage replacement and repair so that the hundreds of thousands of young, active patients with joint damage can return to their lifestyles without having to undergo costly and invasive short-term fixes.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240503575444/en/