MED1 Ventures

MED1 Ventures

MED1 Ventures was co-founded by Tim Willis and Steve Bacich, two medical device operators who previously founded or led companies including TearScience and Conceptus. The firm does not disclose the source of its investment capital, but its principals have collectively raised over $445 million in venture and public funding across their prior ventures. The firm structures its investments around individual medical device products rather than platform companies. Its model centers on identifying unmet clinical needs, developing a device through regulatory clearance, and achieving a short-term exit — typically within 18 to 48 months — to a named strategic acquirer. The team has taken 85 products to market, generating a cumulative $12 billion in total revenue across ophthalmology and women's health. Current portfolio companies include Arctx Medical, Crystilex, and EternaTear. Geographic reach spans North America, Greater China, Southeast Asia, and Europe, with dedicated managing partners for each region. MED1 Ventures lists seven team members on its website, including a Managing Director of Finance and Investor Relations and a partner for legal and administrative functions. The firm maintains its headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, and holds an operational asset in Half Moon Bay, California, through the Big Wave Project. Tim Willis serves on the board of a Christian nonprofit and a university board; Robert Rosenthal sits on the board of NCLifeSci. The firm has participated in Venture Connect events run by the Center for Entrepreneurial Development. A recent operational signal is the addition of current investment opportunities EternaTear and Crystilex to its public pipeline. The firm's structural distinction lies in its product-level investment thesis — it does not back companies as going concerns but rather forms a new entity around each device. This mirrors a project-finance approach within venture capital, where each investment's risk is isolated and the exit path is defined before development begins. The model relies on the founders' ability to repeatedly match engineering resources with buyer demand, a pattern sustained across multiple prior companies sold to Medtronic and other acquirers.