JumpStart Invests in Tursiop Technologies

CLEVELAND, June 19 /PRNewswire/ -- JumpStart Inc., the Northeast Ohio
venture development organization that accelerates the growth of innovative
early-stage businesses and ideas, has announced an investment commitment of
$350,000 in Cleveland-based Tursiop Technologies, LLC. The JumpStart
investment is part of a recently closed investment round that included $1
million from RMS Management of Cleveland, OH.
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Tursiop is developing a novel nanomaterial-based coil for magnetic
resonance scanners. This new type of coil will bring fundamental change to the
MRI market through its improved image quality, compared to conventional coil
technologies. Targeting a projected billion dollar market by 2012, Tursiop has
already built, tested, and generated images with several prototype coils.
These coils have outperformed conventional coils and the Tursiop team,
including CEO Brad Goldstein, believes that with additional development
further significant gains will be achieved.
"Our patent-pending technology is based on a fundamental change in the way
the coils are designed and manufactured," said Goldstein. "We at Tursiop are
excited to be at the nexus of medical imaging and nanotechnology and look
forward to providing clinicians the means to enhance the diagnosis and
treatment of some of the major health concerns of our time, including heart
disease, neurological disorders, and cancer."
JumpStart Entrepreneur-in-Residence Kevin Mendelsohn will be working with
the company. "MRI scanners and coils are mature technologies that have
experienced only incremental change over the past 10 to 15 years," Mendelsohn
said. "Currently, the most effective method of improving image quality is
through increased magnet strength, which is a costly alternative. The other is
through the use of specialty coils, but when compared to increased magnet
strength, the improvement has been relatively small. Tursiop's coils offer
improved imaging performance comparable to that of a more powerful scanner,
but at a much lower cost," he concluded.
With the close of this investment round, Tursiop plans to establish office
and laboratory spaces, continue research and product development, and begin
the FDA approval process.
This is JumpStart's 41st investment in its 30th company. Other healthcare
companies in JumpStart's portfolio include AcelleRX Therapeutics, AnalizaDx,
CardioInsight Technologies, CerviLenz, Great Lakes Pharmaceuticals, Synapse
Biomedical and Telerad Express.
About Tursiop Technologies, LLC
Tursiop Technologies is developing revolutionary MRI coil devices
utilizing proprietary nanotechnology, which will produce higher image quality
and faster scan times resulting in a significant boost of the functional
capabilities of any installed MRI system. Tursiop-generated imaging
enhancements will apply across the entire range of MRI system field strengths,
from low-field to high-field systems. Increased diagnostic competency will
lead to improved patient outcomes and open the doors to new therapeutic
opportunities within the areas of interventional, intra-operative and
functional MRI and molecular imaging.
About RMS Management
RMS Management is an integrated family office that was formed in 1991 and
is comprised of a diverse group of individuals and institutions providing
financial and personal services to the founding families of a publicly traded
real estate company. The company strives to enhance the professional and
personal goals and objectives of every generation of the Ratner, Miller and
Shafran families.
About JumpStart Inc.
JumpStart ( www.jumpstartinc.org ) accelerates the growth of innovative
early-stage businesses and ideas into venture-ready companies by delivering
vital, focused resources to entrepreneurs and the community of Northeast Ohio.
JumpStart identifies and invests in early-stage companies that have strong
potential in the marketplace, solid prospects for high growth, and are likely
to qualify for later-stage funding. Beyond investing, the JumpStart team
provides a continuum of business development services to its client companies
to help ensure their success.
SOURCE JumpStart Inc.

Tiffan Clark, Vice President of Marketing, JumpStart Inc., +1-216-363-3400,
Tiffan.Clark@jumpstartinc.org