Norman-based Simergent secures $1.2M investment

A startup company that has developed what it describes as an “easy to use, affordable dialysis device” is getting a $1.2 million investment that includes $500,000 from a group led by i2Emanaged Oklahoma Capital Seed Fund.

The company, Simergent LLC, also is receiving $119,000 from the SeedStep Angels, an Oklahoma investment group founded and managed by i2E with investors contributing the remaining $581,000.

The device employs peritoneal dialysis, a technology for filtering toxins out of the blood of people whose kidneys have failed. It is an alternative to hemodialysis, which is the most prevalent dialysis method by far in the United States.

Steve Lindo, cofounder and CEO of Simergent, said the company plans to use the new funding for multiple initiatives that will advance the company and its technology.

“This funding will provide the necessary resources for Simergent to expand our team of engineers, enhance the device’s design, and perform patient-centered activities required for regulatory approvals,” Lindo said.

“Nephrologists around the globe are excited about the prospect of our Archimedes dialysis device, which provides significant cost reduction for home dialysis while the patient sleeps, thus allowing patients to live a normal life rather than traveling to a dialysis clinic three days per week,” Lindo said.

The Oklahoma Seed Capital Fund is a state-appropriated investment fund managed by i2E through the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology.

The SeedStep Angels group was founded by i2E in 2009 and is now the state’s largest angel investment group with more than 50 members and chapters in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Ardmore and Muskogee.