Unprecedented levels of cash have built up in venture capital funds, with the average fund size growing from $100M in 1975, to over $500M in 2010. Prior to 2006, venture capital funds made smaller investment (up to approximately $3M) to "bridge" the early stage funding gap between university research and commercialization. Today, based on the need to invest larger amounts of cash ($5 - $20M) venture capital is directed to later stage investment and requires significant due diligence prior to investment.

Venture capital firms that focus in medical devices invest primarily in life science companies addressing unmet needs in very large markets with outstanding growth potential. Some firms focus in seed and early-stage funding, while more specialize in later stage investments with products poised for commercialization or a liquidity event.

Angel investors provide early stage capital for promising technology startups, leveraging their domain experience and competencies. Investors often provide extremely valuable coaching in marketing, business development, operations, finance, engineering and management through advisory bodies or board of director positions.

Historically, Angel investing has been 20% < $25K, 40% $25 - $99K, 25% $100 - $250K and 15% > $250K, with 85% of investments no more than 1 hour from the home of the investors.

Government funding for small business is another excellent source of capital for an emerging biomedical technology, especially since the funds do not need to be repaid. Since the source of the funds is US taxpayers, the company must be majority owned by Americans or American firms and have no more than 500 employees. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants are available to businesses performing research and development that is directly related to a federal agency's mission.

2011 - Up to $1.5M that does not need to be repaid
The SBIR or STTR federal grants are awarded in two phases: Phase One grants are designed to assess feasibility and are up to $150K (SBIR) and $100K (STTR) Phase Two grants are structured to support in-depth research and development and are up to $1 Million (SBIR) and up to $750K (STTR).