Cross Atlantic Partners

Investment decisions are led by the three co-founders: Claes Ekstrom, Senior Managing Director; Douglas Abel, Managing Director; and Tom Woiwode, Managing Director. The trio built the firm together in 2003 and remains actively involved in originating, structuring, and managing portfolio positions. Their combined experience spans medical device operating roles, healthcare investment banking, and transatlantic commercial strategy.

Cross Atlantic partners operates on an explicitly bilateral model. The firm sources investments primarily in US-headquartered medical technology companies that have achieved FDA clearance or CE marking and initial commercial revenue, then applies its own operating capabilities and European distribution relationships to accelerate international expansion. This transatlantic structure is the firm's defining characteristic and principal sourcing advantage.

The firm targets commercial-stage healthcare companies, typically those generating between $10 million and $50 million in revenue at the time of initial investment. The focus is on post-regulatory-clearance businesses with demonstrated US reimbursement pathways, where European market entry represents a near-term growth catalyst. Cross Atlantic does not invest in pre-revenue or preclinical-stage companies.

Cross Atlantic Partners operates as a direct investor, deploying growth equity and structured capital into individual portfolio companies rather than committing to third-party funds. The firm structures its investments as equity or convertible instruments and takes an active role in supporting European commercial strategy for each portfolio company.

Public record indicates that Cross Atlantic Partners leads and structures its own transactions, and its co-investment relationships tend to reflect the firm's transatlantic thesis — collaborating with US venture and growth investors on the domestic side while bringing European strategic and financial co-investors into syndicates for international expansion. The firm's model functions as a bridge between US innovation capital and European commercial partnerships.