| VISTA, CA – November 7, 2005 – Aperio Technologies, the leading
provider of virtual microscopy systems in the Healthcare IT industry, today
announced it has closed a $17 million Series B round of financing. Aperio
will use the new capital for expanding sales and operations, developing
new products, protecting its intellectual property, and driving market adoption.
The round was co-led by Galen Partners, a New York-based private equity
firm specializing in healthcare investing, and Advanced Technology Ventures
(ATV) a bi-coastal venture fund specializing in healthcare and technology
investments. Other investors included Dako A/S of Glostrup, Denmark. Terms
of the financing deal were not disclosed.
Zubeen Shroff from Galen, and Tom Rodgers from ATV, will join the Aperio
board of directors. Stephen Shapiro, a longtime medical technology industry
expert, will also be joining as an outside board member.
"We believe the Pathology field is on an evolutionary path similar to
Radiology, where digitizing images has become commonplace and has enabled
dramatic workflow efficiencies. More importantly, we believe that Aperio
is best positioned to drive this evolution," said Mr. Rodgers, a former
vice president of corporate strategy at McKesson. "Virtual microscopy
is the lynchpin of digital pathology, and Aperio has built and installed
more virtual microscopy solutions than anyone else in this rapidly growing
segment."
"We are convinced Aperio is poised for significant growth over the next
three years," commented Mr. Shroff. "They have superior products, the
largest installed base in the space, and a seasoned management team. They
truly are leading the transition to virtual microscopy, as evidenced by
a customer base that includes leaders in the clinical, research, and education
pathology sectors."
Dirk Soenksen, chairman and CEO of Aperio, said, "We are excited to
have the support of seasoned healthcare investors like Galen Partners
and ATV who bring financial acumen and years of proven experience in building
healthcare technology companies. It is a vote of confidence in our technology,
and in our belief that the industry is moving toward digitized pathology.
Aperio's high-speed line scanning technology is specifically designed
to meet the emergent needs of this soon-to-be $1 billion digital pathology
market."
About Virtual Microscopy
Virtual microscopy is the practice of converting entire glass microscope
slides to high resolution digital slides-entire-slide images that can
be remotely viewed, quantitatively analyzed, and readily annotated, shared
and managed, all without a traditional microscope. Aperio's line of ScanScope
Systems delivers automated high-speed digital slide creation, management,
and analysis for pathology. Archival and retrieval, quality assurance,
frozen section interpretation, secondary consultations, and entire-slide
image analysis are all improved with the ScanScope System.
About Aperio Technologies, Inc.
With the largest installed base of virtual microscopy systems, Aperio
Technologies is a worldwide leader in virtual microscopy. Our ScanScope®
scanners and Digital Slide Information Management Software deliver integrated
digital slide creation, viewing, management, and analysis capabilities
to pathologists. Applications include tissue microarrays, toxicology pathology,
image analysis, workflow systems (PACS), telepathology, frozen sections,
hematopathology, and cytology. Our freely downloadable ImageScope™ viewer
makes digital slides accessible anywhere, anytime. With headquarters in
Vista, California, Aperio serves a global pathology market in clinical,
research, and education. For more information and to view a gallery of
digital slides created by ScanScope Systems, please visit www.aperio.com.
About Advanced Technology Ventures
Founded in 1979, Advanced Technology Ventures is a bi-coastal venture
capital firm with more than $1.4 billion in capital under management.
ATV works closely with entrepreneurial teams in several technology markets,
including biotechnology, medical devices, communications, IT infrastructure,
and software and services, to build emerging-growth business ventures
into market leaders. With more than 25 years of experience, ATV has a
proven track record of success in helping to build strong, sustainable
business enterprises. For more information, please visit ATV's Web site
at www.atvcapital.com.
About Galen Partners
Galen Partners is a New York-based private equity firm focused exclusively
on providing equity financing to mid-to-later stage growth companies in
the healthcare industry. Founded in 1990, Galen Partners was one of the
first funds to focus exclusively on investments in healthcare-related
companies. With $648 million under management raised through four funds,
Galen has invested in more than 60 companies. The firm emphasizes investments
within the medical device, technology-enabled outsourcing services and
specialty pharmaceutical sectors. Galen partners with management through
an approach called Collaborative Capital-a combination of focus, growth
and expertise that enables Galen to work collaboratively with company
management teams to create disruptive strategies that not only generate
revenue growth, but also help firms achieve their full market potential.
Over the past fourteen years, Galen Partners has been particularly adept
at identifying, backing and developing numerous future trend-setting,
industry leaders. For more information about Galen Partners please visit
www.galenpartners.com.
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Bringing Digital Pathology to Life
