> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://nexi.fund/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Versa Vascular taps ex-Medtronic CEO as AdapTR round reaches $42M - URL: https://nexi.fund/versavascular-adaptr-tricuspid-2026/ - Published: 2026-08-22T14:19:40.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-22T14:19:40.000Z - Description: Versa Vascular named ex-Medtronic CEO Bill Shields and lifted its AdapTR tricuspid repair Series C to $42 million, funding a U.S. Early Feasibility Study. - Author: Nexi.fund Labs - Tags: Biotech & Health, #mode-2, #hook-character, #track-E Bill Shields spent fifteen years inside Medtronic's structural-heart franchise, the last seven leading product development and clinical studies for its transcatheter mitral and tricuspid therapies. In August he left to run a company with one device, one trial, and a $42 million war chest. That is usually a signal worth reading. Versa Vascular, a Santa Cruz startup, said on August 11 it had added $15 million to its Series C, lifting total committed capital for the round to $42 million. The same announcement named Shields chief executive, replacing retiring founder-CEO David Hovda. The money funds completion of the first-in-human study of AdapTR, its transcatheter tricuspid repair device, outside the United States, plus a U.S. Early Feasibility Study and further product work. The extension tops up an oversubscribed $27.3 million Series C that closed in 2025, led by S3 Ventures with BioStar Capital, Cadence Healthcare Ventures, View Ventures and Santa Cruz Ventures. The consistency of the cap table matters: the same investors are doubling down rather than a new lead resetting terms. AdapTR does not replace the valve. It is a permanent implant delivered through a catheter into the right atrium, where a nitinol frame and textile skirt limit annular dilation while a central disk reduces regurgitant flow. The device is repositionable before release. The pitch is access: patients too frail for open-heart surgery, and anatomies that existing transcatheter options exclude. The unmet need is large and aging. More than 7 million Americans live with heart valve disease, and tricuspid regurgitation has long trailed mitral and aortic disease in transcatheter innovation because the anatomy is harder and the programs were built later. Open surgery is contraindicated or high-risk for a sizable share of these patients. Existing transcatheter routes work, but a meaningful slice of patients still fall outside their eligibility criteria. Versa is not alone. Edwards Lifesciences' Evoque and Abbott's TriClip already compete in transcatheter tricuspid, and a clutch of privately held developers are chasing the same space. Versa's edge claim is a simpler, atrium-only implant that preserves the native leaflet and avoids sub-valvular interference. What the evidence shows so far is early but clean. Versa reported seven treated patients with no device-related adverse events as it emerged from stealth in 2025, and a first-in-human case in an 85-year-old woman deemed unsuitable for other options showed sustained regurgitation reduction and improved function at 90 days. The ongoing study enrolled ten patients and measures acute procedural success. Shields' hire is the part investors should weigh most. Medtronic's transcatheter valve programs are among the most launched in the field; a general manager who ran that division does not move to a ten-patient startup to babysit a science project. The logic is commercial, not scientific. Versa believes the device is far enough along that the constraint is now execution, regulatory strategy, and a path to reimbursement. For a private-markets reader, the shape is familiar. A differentiated structural-heart asset, a fresh $42 million to reach U.S. feasibility, and a medtech veteran at the helm. The next inflection is the Early Feasibility Study readout and, eventually, a pivotal trial. Until then, the thesis rests on whether "simpler and broader eligibility" converts into durable clinical and commercial wins against entrenched competitors. 💡 **What to track** AdapTR is a right-atrium implant that repairs, rather than replaces, the tricuspid valve — aimed at patients excluded by surgery or current transcatheter options. The $42 million Series C extension funds a U.S. Early Feasibility Study and ongoing first-in-human work outside the U.S. The real test is the feasibility readout and a future pivotal trial against Edwards' Evoque and Abbott's TriClip. [ Versa Vascular Appoints Bill Shields as Chief Executive Officer Official release: $15M Series C extension to $42M total, Shields (ex-Medtronic structural-heart GM) named CEO, AdapTR first-in-human and U.S. feasibility plans. Versa Vascular ](https://versavascular.com/news/versa-vascular-appoints-bill-shields-as-chief-executive-officer?ref=nexi.fund) Primary source — the company's own announcement of the financing and leadership change. [ Medtronic executive Shields appointed CEO at Versa Vascular Trade coverage of the $15M expansion to $42M and Shields' 15-year Medtronic background; context on tricuspid disease lagging mitral and aortic therapy. Cardiovascular News ](https://cardiovascularnews.com/medtronic-executive-shields-appointed-ceo-at-versa-vascular?ref=nexi.fund) Independent trade-press corroboration of the event and competitive backdrop. [ Tricuspid repair startup Versa Vascular raises $27.3M Device design detail, the competitive set (Edwards, Abbott, CroíValve, Coramaze, Laplace, TriCares) and early seven-patient safety signal. MassDevice ](https://www.massdevice.com/versa-vascular-raises-27m-tricuspid-repair?ref=nexi.fund) Best single source on mechanism and the crowded tricuspid-repair field.