The Foundry

What The Foundry does

The Foundry, LLC is a privately held medical device and biotechnology incubator founded in 1998 in Menlo Park, California, that identifies unmet clinical needs and forms, funds, and operates companies to commercialize innovative medical technologies. The firm operates a portfolio-based platform rather than a single product line, having developed more than 20 companies since inception across cardiovascular (Ardian, Twelve, Mavericks Endo, Half Moon Medical), neurovascular/stroke (Concentric Medical), structural heart (Evalve/MitraClip), pulmonary/respiratory (Emphasys/Zephyr, Nuvaira, Apreo Health), pain management (Allay Therapeutics), drug delivery (Foundry Therapeutics), ophthalmology (ForSight Labs, Transcend Medical, ForSight Vision2), and aesthetics (Cabochon, Miramar Labs) verticals. Its underlying technology stack consists of an integrated R&D infrastructure located at its Menlo Park headquarters — including wet lab, chemistry development facility, machine shop, and clean room — combined with a team of operating partners and a 500+ patent portfolio that has produced multiple category-defining devices now standard-of-care.

The Foundry generates revenue primarily through equity ownership in its portfolio companies, with exits typically occurring via acquisition by strategic medical device companies (Medtronic acquired Ardian for $850M in 2011 and Twelve for $458M in 2015; Abbott acquired Evalve for $410M in 2009; Stryker acquired Concentric Medical for $135M in 2011; Pulmonx acquired Emphasys in 2009). Portfolio companies have collectively raised approximately $1B from more than 50 venture capital firms and corporations, generating over $3B in aggregate shareholder value. Customers of the underlying therapies are hospitals, physicians, and patients; the firm itself sells nothing directly to end users. Active development-stage companies include Allay Therapeutics, Apreo Health, Mavericks Endo, FIRE1 (Dublin), Foundry Therapeutics, Nuvaira, and Half Moon Medical, with the Half Moon Medical program operating under a strategic development partnership with Medtronic. The company employs 1-10 people at the parent-entity level and is led by Managing Partner Hanson S. Gifford III, a named inventor on 370+ US patents.

Name

The Foundry

Legal name

The Foundry, LLC

Website

https://thefoundry.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Foundry is a Menlo Park-based medical device incubator founded in 1998 that forms, funds, and operates companies developing category-defining medical technologies, having created 20+ portfolio companies and $3B+ in shareholder value through strategic exits.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Medical Device Incubation Services

NAICS

Machinery Manufacturing (333)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Process Development & Tech Transfer Services (CDMO) (HLAGABAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Process Development & Tech Transfer (Upstream/Downstream/MSAT) (HLAGAGAE), CMC, Process Development & Tech Transfer Staffing FSP (HLAGAOAK)

Keywords

• Medical device incubator
• Medical technology development
• Healthcare venture building
• Clinical innovation platform
• Medical device company creation

Headquarters

HQ city

Menlo Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Equity stakes in portfolio companies: The Foundry generates returns through equity ownership in the companies it develops and incubates. Companies are formed around innovative medical technologies and typically raised funding from VCs and corporations before being acquired by major medical device companies.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

The Foundry is a medical device company incubator that identifies unmet clinical needs and builds independent companies around innovative medical technologies. The firm provides integrated R&D facilities (wet lab, chemistry development, machine shop, clean room), an experienced leadership team, funding capabilities, and an extensive network of VCs and strategic partners to take technologies from concept through development, clinical milestones, and ultimately acquisition or commercialization.

Product overview

The Foundry is a medical technology incubator that identifies unmet clinical needs and builds companies around innovative technologies that address them. Rather than a single unified product, The Foundry operates as a portfolio-based platform that has developed over 20 medical device and biotechnology companies since 1998. The core products include landmark medical devices such as the Symplicity Catheter System (by Ardian), Zephyr Valve (by Emphasys Medical), Merci Retriever (by Concentric Medical), and MitraClip (by Evalve) - all of which have been successfully acquired by major medical device companies. The portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas including cardiovascular, stroke/neurovascular, respiratory/pulmonary, ophthalmology, pain management, and medical aesthetics. The portfolio companies include legacy companies (like Ardian, Concentric Medical, Evalve, Emphasys Medical that were acquired) and active companies (like Allay Therapeutics, Apreo Health, FIRE1, Nuvaira, Half Moon Medical, Mavericks Endo). The Foundry provides facilities, expertise, and resources to develop these technologies from concept to market.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Foundry Medical Device Incubation Service
• Allay Therapeutics
• Apreo Health
• FIRE1
• Foundry Therapeutics
• Half Moon Medical
• Mavericks Endo
• Nuvaira

Quantifiable outcome

• $3B+ in shareholder value created
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• MedtroniccoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 October 2020Medtronic announced a partnership with The Foundry in October 2020 to develop innovative mitral valve repair technology. Half Moon Medical's technology was being evaluated in an early feasibility study. This builds on The Foundry's history with Medtronic, which has acquired multiple Foundry portfolio companies including Ardian and Twelve.
• Covidien VenturescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014FIRE1 was formed in 2014 as a partnership with Covidien Ventures to develop a heart failure monitoring solution which measures circulating blood volume to improve outcomes for heart failure patients. FIRE1 is based in Dublin, Ireland.
• Dr. Eugene de Juan, Jr. and K. Angela MacfarlanecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerForSight Labs, an ophthalmic company incubator, was formed in 2005 in partnership with Dr. Eugene de Juan, Jr. and K. Angela Macfarlane. Six companies were formed to develop treatments for glaucoma, retinal diseases, conjunctivitis and dry eye.
• Medtronic (Half Moon Medical)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHalf Moon Medical was formed in 2017 in partnership with Medtronic to develop a transcatheter device for mitral valve repair to restore function in patients with severe symptomatic mitral regurgitation.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• InCube Labs: Medical device and combination-product incubator founded by Mir Imran in the San Francisco Bay Area. Operates a similar concept-to-company model with integrated R&D facilities and equity stakes in portfolio companies, making it the closest comparable to The Foundry.
• Synecor: Medical device incubator co-founded by many of the same individuals involved in The Foundry's ecosystem. Builds and invests in early-stage medical device companies with a comparable lab-to-company approach.
• ExploraMed: Medical device incubator founded by Josh Makower that created multiple companies later acquired by Covidien/Medtronic (e.g., NeoTract). Direct structural peer in the medical-device company-building model.
• ForSight Labs: Ophthalmic company incubator formed in 2005 in partnership with The Foundry itself. Operates the same incubator model in a narrower ophthalmology vertical, making it a direct intra-portfolio comparable.

Emerging players

• Nualas: Early-stage medical device incubator with a similar company-formation model focused on unmet clinical needs. Smaller and less proven than The Foundry, but operates on a comparable playbook.

Broad incumbents

• Longitude Capital: Healthcare-focused venture capital firm with active medical device practice. While primarily a fund rather than an incubator, it co-invests in similar early-stage medical device companies and provides comparable capital deployment.

Others

• Lightstone Ventures: Healthcare and medical device venture capital firm where The Foundry's Managing Partner Hanson Gifford also serves as a Partner. Direct ecosystem overlap makes it a relevant adjacent peer.
• New Enterprise Associates (NEA): Major venture capital firm with disclosed investment activity in The Foundry-affiliated portfolio companies (2013 and 2018 funding rounds). Represents a key financial partner in The Foundry's portfolio.
• Domain Associates: Healthcare-focused venture firm that co-invested in The Foundry-affiliated portfolio company funding rounds (2010). Relevant as a recurring financial partner in the Foundry ecosystem.
• Versant Ventures: Healthcare venture capital firm that participated in The Foundry-affiliated portfolio company financing rounds (2010). Functions as an enabling financial peer in the same company-building ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thefoundryllc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Foundry