Even though Raymond Cohen last November officially completed the $3.7 billion sale of the medical device company he co-founded, Axonics Inc., the word “retirement” still isn’t in his vocabulary.
“Too much cool technology out in the world these days (and folks who can use some good advice) to hang up my spurs!” Cohen told the Business Journal.
It’s been quite the year since Cohen won a Business Journal Innovator of the Year award last September.
On the same day last November when he completed the sale of Axonics to Boston Scientific Corp., he became chairman of privately held SoniVie, an Israeli-based renal denervation company now engaged in an FDA pivotal study; the company in March was sold to Boston Scientific for $600 million.
Also in March, Kestra Medical Technologies Inc., where he serves as an independent director and chair of the compensation committee, completed a successful IPO, raising $230 million. The Kirkland, Wash.-maker of wearable medical devices now has a $757 million market cap.
He’s a venture partner to two VC funds – Andera Partners of Paris and Sherpa Healthcare Partners of China. He has joined the boards of seven companies, including Aliso Viejo’s RxSight Inc. on Aug. 4 (Nasdaq: RXST).
He was featured in a medtech publication called “The Lens,” where he said, “Too many people are looking for win-lose deals … There is a middle ground where both parties feel like ‘I gave up a little more than I wanted to,’ ‘I paid a little more than I wanted to.’ When you get to that point, you know you got a good deal.”
Cohen has had a successful 40-year career in medical devices, led by Axonics, which he co-founded in 2012 and took public in 2018. The company developed an implantable device to treat incontinence; overactive bladders affect an estimated 87 million Americans and Europeans, particularly women over 55 years old.
It became one of the most successful medtech firms to ever go public. It was named the fastest growing company in America by Deloitte in 2021 and by the Financial Times in 2022.
The sale to Boston Scientific in early 2024 was announced on the same day that the Business Journal named Cohen its Businessperson of the Year in the healthcare sector.
He’s not planning to become a CEO again.
“I am retired from being a CEO and don’t plan on starting a newco – I am focused on board service and helping companies access capital and of course, arranging an exit, if possible,” he said.
“Not having a “day job” does provide one with flexibility though, so I’m enjoying myself.”
Nor is he out of the spotlight. He will be speaking at conferences like the Piper Medtech in Dana Point on Sept. 4 and Northern California’s Device Talks in October.
And of course, Cohen is the keynote speaker at the Business Journal’s annual Innovator of the Year awards, scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 10, at the Irvine Marriott.
