Genesis Innovation Group, Cultivate(MD) invest in HAPPE Spine

GRAND RAPIDS — Genesis Innovation Group LLC and its affiliated venture capital funds invested in HAPPE Spine LLC, a Grand Rapids startup developing and commercializing a material for orthopedic implants.

The investment is the second Genesis Innovation, Cultivate(MD) Capital Fund I and Cultivate(MD) Capital Fund II LP made in HAPPE Spine. An announcement on the investment did not state the amount, although records HAPPE Spine filed today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission indicated it had raised $600,000 in an equity offering that involved 11 investors.

HAPPE Spine uses a material technology developed by Ryan Roeder and researchers at the University of Notre Dame that allows for the full or partial construction of artificial bone applications.

“Our biomaterial and manufacturing technology has opened the door to new implant designs that surgeons quickly recognize as being intuitively advantageous but unlike anything else on the market,” Roeder said in a statement. “Excitement will continue to build in the year ahead with the release of our cervical implant and submission for regulatory approval.”

Holland-based Genesis Innovation and its venture capital funds invest in health care startups with a focus on innovative medical devices and orthopedics.