March 26, 2019
Contact: Sarah Seagraves,
Senior VP for Marketing
(405) 813-2403
sseagraves@i2E.org
Oklahoma-based BPEndo is creating an innovative device assists physicians in properly inflating the colon during a medical procedure known as a colonoscopy
OKLAHOMA CITY — i2E, Inc., recently led a $1.2 million Series A investment round in BPEndo, LLC, a Norman, OK-based company that is developing a medical device to assist physicians as they are conducting colonoscopies.
Founded by Dr. Robert Holbrook, a gastroenterologist and partner at the Norman Endoscopy Center, BPEndo seeks to solve a common problem that confronts physicians during colonoscopy procedures.
“We’ve found there is a subset of patients — we think it is somewhere between 6 and 20 percent — that can’t hold the air when you inflate the colon,” Dr. Holbrook said. “That becomes important to the physicians when they need to do something – they’ve identified a polyp or there is some bleeding — and if we can’t see what we are doing that creates more problems.”
Holbrook plans to use the investment proceeds to complete the design of the patent-pending device and advance it through the FDA approval process.
The investment round included $350,000 from the Oklahoma Seed Capital Fund, along with investment from angel investors and the founder.
“I have 12 GI (gastroenterologists) investors in the company,” Dr. Holbrook said. “Including me, that makes 13. Both of my physician partners are investors. Part of it is supporting me as their partner and part of it is they see this as a real problem, and this device may be a viable solution.”
With the completion of this funding round, Dr. Holbrook anticipates it will take approximately 15 months to finalize the design of the BPEndo device and obtain FDA approval.
The Oklahoma Seed Capital Fund is a state-appropriated investment fund managed by i2E through the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology.
About BPEndo, LLC
Founded in 2017, the BPEndo device is composed of an external buttress and balloon that creates an airtight seal around the scope physicians use to conduct colonoscopies. Company founder, Dr. Robert Holbrook, is an Oklahoma native and partner in the Norman Endoscopy Center who conceived the concept of the BPEndo device about six years ago.
About i2E, Inc.
With offices in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, OK, i2E’s nationally recognized services include business expertise and funding for Oklahoma’s emerging small businesses. i2E has more than $60 million of investment capital under management. www.i2E.org
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