BRYAN LIU
CO-FOUNDER, CEO
TELESAIR
WHY: Runs Irvine-based upstart medical device maker looking to make hospital-grade respiratory products that can be used at home. Has worked at a variety of medical device companies, including as research and development manager for respiratory care at CareFusion, the largest respiratory device manufacturer in the U.S., and senior principal system engineer for dialysis systems at Fresenius Medical Care North America. Inventor and developer of the first automatic closed-loop ventilator in the world.
BY THE NUMBERS: At start of year, Telesair announced it had raised $22 million. Telesair, which was founded in 2020 and is based in the Irvine Spectrum, now has 20 employees with plans to hire another 20 this year, Liu said.
FUTURE PLANS: The Series A round of funding will support the commercialization of Telesair’s Bonhawa Respiratory Humidifier, which the company says is a “unique, differentiated respiratory solution” for use in intensive care units in hospitals. Funds will also go toward the development of a second-generation product designed to get patients out of the hospital sooner, by treating them safely at home.
IN THEIR WORDS: The company says respiratory diseases are “dramatically increasing” and there is a need for simple-to-use medical respirators. “There’s a huge gap between hospital-level therapy and home-level therapy,” Liu told the Business Journal. “A lot of patients need to be kept in hospitals where there are high costs. Patients are having a difficult time getting a high level of care in their homes.”
