Justin Klein, MD, JD
Justin 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), FIRE1, Intact Vascular (acquired), Metavention, Personal Genome Diagnostics (acquired), PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals (IPO), Plexium, 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 Chair of its MedTech Investment Working Group. 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 his MD from the Duke University School of Medicine and his 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 early 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 Biotie Therapies, Cameron Health, CardiAQ, Ceterix Orthopedics, Lutonix, NeuWave Medical, Respicardia, Sequent Medical and Veran Medical, and he remains active with Alleviant Medical, CVRx (IPO), Inari Medical (IPO), Metavention, Moxe Health, and SpyGlass Pharma. Kirk also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Venture Capital Association. Kirk graduated with a BA 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.
Mike Kramer
Mike Kramer is a Venture Partner at Vensana Capital. Mike brings over 20 years of experience in operations, finance, and accounting to the Vensana team.
Full Bio Read LessMike Kramer is a Venture Partner at Vensana Capital. Mike brings over 20 years of experience in operations, finance, and accounting to the Vensana team. 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 medical technology 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 is a certified public accountant (inactive) and received his Bachelor of Accountancy from the University of North Dakota.
Amrinder Singh
Amrinder Singh is a Principal 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 Principal at Vensana Capital. Amrinder was previously a Senior Investment Director at Medtronic Ventures where he supported new investments in the medtech, 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 graduated from University of California, Davis in Biosystems Engineering and earned his MBA from Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management.
Cynthia Yee
Cynthia Yee is a Principal at Vensana Capital. Cynthia brings over a decade of investing, operating, and equity research experience to Vensana.
Full Bio Read LessCynthia Yee is a Principal at Vensana Capital. Cynthia brings over a decade 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 Cartiva Medical (acquired), ClarVista Medical (acquired), and NeuSpera Medical, and was previously an Associate at NEA focused on investments in medical devices and healthcare services. She also gained operating experience as Director of Business Development & Strategic Marketing at Epix Therapeutics (fka Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics, acquired) 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 SpyGlass Pharma. She graduated with a BA in Integrative Biology and a BS in Business Administration at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
Greg Banker
Greg Banker is a Vice President at Vensana Capital. Greg has deep experience in the medtech sector gained through operating and strategy consulting roles.
Full Bio Read LessGreg Banker is a Vice President at Vensana Capital. 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. He graduated with a BS in Biology from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Steve Schwen
Steve Schwen is the Chief Financial Officer at Vensana Capital. Steve has over 20 years of finance and operations management experience within venture capital and private equity organizations.
Full Bio Read LessSteve Schwen is the Chief Financial Officer at Vensana Capital. Steve has over 20 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. 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).
Kristie Fox
Kristie Fox is the Executive Assistant and Office Manager in our Vienna, VA office and brings over 20 years of experience as an EA.
Full Bio Read LessKristie Fox is the Executive Assistant and Office Manager in our Vienna, VA office and brings over 20 years of experience as an EA. Prior to joining Vensana, Kristie spent 12 years at NEA in various support roles within their Healthcare Team, including for 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 the Executive Assistant and Office Manager in our Minneapolis Office and brings over 20 years of experience as an EA.
Full Bio Read LessNeilly Newman is the Executive Assistant and Office Manager in our Minneapolis Office and brings over 20 years of experience as an EA. Prior to joining Vensana, Neilly spent over 6 years at biotech venture capital firm Versant Ventures, including supporting 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, 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, 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, Neuros Medical
CEO, Sequent Medical
CEO, CVRx
GM, Medtronic Navigation
