Venture capital firm Versant Ventures Inc. is sending a managing partner from its Newport Beach office to the Twin Cities to open a new office that will focus on its investments in Minnesota and neighboring states.
Menlo Park-based Versant specializes in early-stage medical device and biotech companies. It has $1.6 billion under management, and is currently investing out of a $500 million fund raised in 2008.
Kirk Nielsen, a Minnesota native, has been assigned to establish the Minneapolis-St. Paul office.
“Establishing a presence in the Midwest is a great opportunity for Versant, but we continue to be committed to OC and Southern California,” Neilsen said.
He has been at Versant’s Orange County office since 2006, and was promoted to managing director from principal last year.
Nielsen joined Versant from Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc. He’s a former professional hockey player who played briefly for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League before retiring from the sport.
Versant holds a number of Minnesota companies in its portfolio, including Zyga Technology Inc. and RedBrick Health Corp., both based in Minneapolis.
The firm sold Maple Grove, Minn.-based Lutonix Inc. last year in a $225 million deal with C.R. Bard Inc. in Murray Hill, N.J.
