MB Venture Partners
Gary Stevenson, Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Gary Stevenson co-founded MB Venture Partners in 2001 after six years in healthcare investment banking and equity research. At MBVP, he has raised $120 million in committed capital to four funds and invested in more than 50 start-ups, most of which are focused on product solutions for musculoskeletal disease. He also spent seven years in a variety of general management roles with Abbott Laboratories. Gary holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Missouri. He also received an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He is a certified public accountant and a chartered financial analyst. Gary is a board member or observer for several MBVP portfolio companies. Medtronic, Smith + Nephew, Zimmer Biomet, and Wright Medical have each acquired MBVP-funded start-ups. This will be his 18th year to host the MNVC.
mbventures.com
Medtronic Spine & Biologics | Restorative Therapies Group
Kip Roberts, Strategy & Business Development
Kip Roberts is the Senior Director of Strategy & Business Development for Medtronic’s $4.0 B Cranial & Spinal Technologies (CST) business headquartered in Memphis, TN. In this capacity, Kip supports strategic planning and portfolio management for CST in addition to facilitating mergers and acquisitions. In 2019, Kip led the Titan Spine transaction as well as the subsequent integration effort; an acquisition that is largely regarded as helping reinvigorate Medtronic’s growth in the Spine segment. During his 12 years with the company, he has held various roles from market development to product management. Notably, in 2013, Kip was tapped to lead the stabilization and turn-around of the unit’s $700M flagship biologic franchise, INFUSE Bone Graft (rh BMP-2), following two years of well-documented turmoil. Prior to joining Medtronic, he served in a neuroscience sales role with Eli Lilly & Company. Kip earned an M.B.A from University of Memphis and currently resides in Collierville, TN.
medtronic.com
Stryker Joint Replacement
John Speer, Senior Director of Business Development and Strategy
John Speer is responsible for strategy, acquisitions, investments and partnerships for Stryker’s largest division. He has held a variety of roles, in F500 companies and startups alike, primarily structuring venture and buyout transactions. He is also a proud veteran, serving as an active duty pilot in the United States Air Force for 12 years, and spent most of this time in the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. John holds an Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
stryker.com
Smith & Nephew
Eric Heinz, Director, Business Development
Eric Heinz is a Director of Business Development supporting the inorganic growth strategy for Smith & Nephew’s Orthopaedics franchise. Eric joined the company in 2017, and has lead multiple M&A deals, specializing in robotics, digital and enabling technologies. Eric began his career as a product development engineer with Medtronic Sofamor Danek in 2001. He has held marketing and business development roles with industry leaders Intuitive Surgical and Zimmer, as well as investment banking and management consulting engagements through his own consulting firm. Eric holds a B.S in Bioengineering from The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and an M.E.M. from Christian Brothers University.
smith-nephew.com
Viscogliosi Brothers
Anthony Viscogliosi
Anthony G. Viscogliosi is an accomplished chief executive, entrepreneur, and business strategist with a proven track record for leading businesses across all phases of development — from startup through commercialization to business expansion and strategic sale. Mr. Viscogliosi has healthcare experience as an entrepreneur, executive, and financier and is the co-founder of Viscogliosi Brothers LLC, (VB) along with his two brothers John and Marc. VB is a Family Office focused on the musculoskeletal industry. VB celebrated its 20-Year Anniversary in April 2019. Mr. Viscogliosi has founded more than 20 companies and investment funds in the neuro-musculoskeletal/orthopedic industry and serves or served as chairman, executive chairman, CEO, president, managing director, or managing member of more than 15 businesses. Mr. Viscogliosi identifies companies with innovative ideas and technologies, and then adds vision to those ideas and leads them through efficient execution into growing businesses. He is recognized for his ability to create, invigorate and launch businesses on a solid growth trajectory by assembling management teams, setting strategic priorities and implementing innovations that translate to tangible results. He has been a CEO for more than 20 years. From an investor perspective, Mr. Viscogliosi was the first orthopedic industry analyst on Wall Street and executed more than 170 orthopedic deals with partners such as Johnson & Johnson, Stryker Corporation, Zimmer Holdings, and Abbott, among others. Past exits have generated in excess of $2.1 billion in capital returned to VB, co-investors, partners and lenders. Mr. Viscogliosi received a BS in Economics from the University of Michigan, an Honorary Ph.D from New York College of Podiatric Medicine and an Honorary Associate Degree in Humane Letters from Manchester Community College. Mr. Viscogliosi is a former Lieutenant Commander of the United States Navy Reserve.
vbllc.com
Viscogliosi Brothers
Marc Viscogliosi
Marc Viscogliosi is an experienced CEO, Venture & Private Equity Investor and Company/Industry Creator with a proven track record of success in the medical device industry over the past two decades. Throughout his 20-year career, Mr. Viscogliosi has completed over $800 million in equity and debt capital raises at all levels of a company’s lifecycle, while generating over $2.2 billion in exit values for investor-partners and stakeholders. With over a dozen issued medical device patents, several FDA PMA Approvals and leading products through the AMA CPT Coding and Payer Coverage Policy development processes, Mr. Viscogliosi has consistently shepherded start-ups into high-growth, high-performance organizations. In 1999, Mr. Viscogliosi, with his brothers Anthony and John, co-founded Viscogliosi Brothers, LLC (“VB”), a merchant bank focused on investing its own capital, alongside that of its partners, as direct investments into musculoskeletal companies. VB and its partners have invested over $800 million in combined equity and debt financings in 20 companies that have resulted in 15 exits and $2.2 billion in distributable proceeds. These exits have included trade sales to Johnson & Johnson DePuy Synthes, Stryker Corp., Zimmer Biomet, Inc., Abbot, Globus Medical, Inc., RTI Surgical, Inc., and Alphatec Spine, Inc. Mr. Viscogliosi has founded and led several musculoskeletal companies, including Paradigm Spine and Knee Creations. Mr. Viscogliosi began his career as a Wall Street institutional equity sell-side research analyst, covering the neuro-musculoskeletal industry from 1992 to 1999. He holds a B.A. from New York University with a double-major in Economics and Political Science.
vbllc.com
Viscogliosi Brothers
John Viscogliosi
Mr. Viscogliosi was the Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Centinel Spine, the successor to Surgicraft Ltd. and Raymedica, LLC as of August 2008. Mr. Viscogliosi has >20 years of operations and turn-around experience in the orthopedic industry and applies such expertise within the active oversight of Centinel’s day-to-day operations. Mr. Viscogliosi is a founding member and principal of Viscogliosi Bros, LLC. He previously co-founded Paradigm Spine, LLC, Small Bone Innovations, Inc., Knee Creations, LLC, Musculoskeletal Clinical Regulatory Advisers, LLC and Spine Solutions, Inc. Mr. Viscogliosi served on the Board of Directors of Small Bone Innovations, Inc. and was formerly on the Boards of Spine Solutions, Inc. and Knee Creations, LLC. Prior to 1999, Mr. Viscogliosi served as a Vice President of Investments at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc., an Associate Director of Investments at Rodman & Renshaw, an Account Executive at First of Michigan Corp. & Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. and an assistant in the institutional sales and trading department of Martin Simpson & Co., Inc. Mr. Viscogliosi graduated from Wayne State University with a BS in Criminal Justice.
vbllc.com
Centinel Spine
Steven Murray & Varun Gandhi
Centinel Spine is the world’s largest, privately-held, pure-play, spine company focused on anterior column reconstruction. The company offers a continuum of trusted, brand-name, clinically proven motion-preserving (prodisc) and fusion solutions (STALIF). Centinel Spine implants have been trusted in over 200,000 implantations with 30-years of clinical success, and over 500 published papers. We are the only company in the world to have FDA PMA approved cervical and lumbar disc replacement products. Our Medical Education and unique direct-to-patient marketing programs empower surgeons and patients to advance informed, successful spine care.
Woven Orthopedic Technologies
Brandon Bendes & John Viscogliosi
Woven Orthopedic Technologies develops solutions to help surgeons tailor treatments to unique patient profiles. Woven’s first product, the Ogmend® Implant Enhancement System was designed to help surgeons overcome the challenges associated with obtaining adequate screw stability in compromised fixation scenarios. Used in combination with existing plate and screw systems, Ogmend provides a simple, effective solution that helps make great fixation systems even better by enhancing their stability at the screw-to-bone interface in worst-case scenarios. Ogmend takes under 2 minutes to implant and provides increased fixation immediately and over time. With 0 reported revisions, 0 complications, and 0 device-related adverse events to date, the Ogmend Implant Enhancement System has helped surgeons enhance the standard of care for high-risk patients across the globe. Ogmend is currently available in Europe for use in Spine surgery and recently received its FDA clearance for use in the US in trauma procedures.
wovenorthopedics.com
Surgio Health
Chris J. Stewart, President and CEO
Dan Whetten, VP Hospital/ASC Product
Surgio Health is a surgical logistics technology partner for hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and medical device manufacturers. We deliver an innovative suite of solutions which drive alignment between OR, sterile processing department (SPD), surgeons and vendors to lower costs, mitigate risk, and improve efficiencies. Our surgical instrument asset tracking, bill only requisition and hospital LMS education solutions are HIPAA-compliant, EHR and ERP integrated.
surgio.com