
Luminoah, a Charlottesville, Va., startup aiming to develop a portable tube feeding system, has closed on $6 million in a Series A funding round led by Fry’s Path Capital and other Virginia firms. Investors included Sands Capital, CAV Angels, Virginia Venture Partners and 757 Angels.
Founder-CEO Neal Piper came up with the idea for Luminoah after watching his three-year-old son Noah remained tethered to a pole-mounted tube feeding system during cancer care.
“This outdated technology limited his mobility, reduced his quality of life, and presented numerous well-documented health risks,” said Piper, a former Pfizer executive and founder of several other startups and a nonprofit. “Luminoah is addressing these challenges with an innovative, wearable solution that will give patients the freedom to lead healthy, active lives.”
Tube-fed Patients Deserve Better
“Fry’s Path is thrilled to support Luminoah’s ambitious plans to improve the standard of care for a large, underserved patient population. Enteral nutrition patients deserve a better solution and Luminoah’s experienced team is poised to deliver it,” said Joe Andrasko, co-founder and managing partner of Fry’s Path.
Fry’s Path, based in Charlottesville, Va., was co-founded by Andrasko and Dwight Keysor. Andrasko is professor of Practice, Quantitative Analysis and Finance at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Keysor, who has previously served at Cambridge Associates and TMG Partners, is senior managing director of New York-based Moore Strategic Ventures.
Luminoah’s design for a portable tube feeding system is still under development. The system is expected to double up as a digital health platform, with features such as remote patient monitoring and data tracking.
“Our system has made substantial improvements to the size of the hardware allowing our engineering team to redefine the traditional approach to IV-pole bound infusion pumps,” Piper told TechCrunch in a recent interview. “Users will enjoy a modern UI/UX that affords them discretion while feeding paired with a device that allows them to go about their day unencumbered.”
Dr. Vesta Salehi, chief of gastroenterology at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, said the Luminoah solution would enable monitoring and adjust patients’ feeding regimens in real time to optimize their nutrition. “Patients should also benefit from improved safety, privacy, and freedom of movement which will enhance their quality of life,” she added.
Investors
757 Angels, based in Norfolk, Va., has 130 members. So far, it has invested $103 million in 49 startups. Its portfolio companies include cerillo, IVWatch, Puttshack, Chowcall and Common House. This summer, Paul Nolde, executive managing director of Lighthouse Labs, took the helm at 757 Angels, succeeding incumbent Monique Adams, who led the firm for eight years.
Sands Capital Ventures, based in Arlington, Va., has made nearly 150 portfolio investments and exited over 30. It has raised $2.1 billion so far, and currently works out of a $585 million fund raised in 2021. Its recent investments include pgEdge, Hawk:AI, Snyk, Tellius and RayzeBio. Sands Capital, founded in 1992, is a staff-owned firm. As of December 31, 2022, it had more than $43.8 billion in client assets.
Virginia Venture Partners (VVP), which invests in early-stage companies by providing seed funding, is part of VIPC, a nonprofit corporation that aims to bridge gaps at the earliest stages of the Innovation Continuum. VVP has invested in nearly 300 new companies, which created more than 9,000 jobs, mobilized more than 1,300 investors and leveraged $1.3 billion in third-party capital. Its recent investments include Brandefy, Novela Company and MD Ortho Systems.
CAV Angels, based in Charlottesville, Va., is a nonprofit network composed of UVA alumni, faculty, parents, students, and friends of the university. It was co-founded by venture capitalist Jim Cheng, chemicals industry financial executive Rich Diemer and Crawford Group chairman Dick Crawford, all of whom serve as the fund’s chairmen. CAV Angels has a portfolio of over 25 startups, besides many more in which its members have invested in their individual capacities.