News

Nanochon closes $4M Series Seed Prime

Nanochon, a Washington, DC-based orthopedic device biotech company has raised $4 million in its series seed prime fundraising round.

The round was led by The University of Virginia Licensing and Ventures Group Seed Fund, with participation from Cultivate (MD), Alumni Venture Group, and Mountain State Capital, among others.

Nanochon intends to use the funds to initiate its first in human clinical trials in the US in 2024, deepen research and development efforts, expand the company’s patent profile and grow its team.

“We’re thrilled to close our funding round and begin our clinical program,” says Ben Holmes, CEO and co-founder. “Securing this funding is one step closer towards achieving Nanochon’s goals of eliminating the need for knee replacements, and greatly shifting the paradigm of arthritic joint care.”

Nanochon will initiate a phase I trial in the US this year for its patented knee implant Chondrograft™. The device requires only minimally invasive surgery to regrow damaged cartilage and bone to stave off the need for full knee replacements which are costly and have a long recovery time.

Holmes follows, “We’ve had fantastic success in our animal studies and we’re very optimistic about future implications in human knees and other joints.”

Nanochon is a biotech and medical device company focused on developing innovative orthopedic solutions. Chondrograft™ is a minimally-invasive implant that allows for immediate weight-bearing and motion – meaning less time spent recovering. Nanochon has the potential to deliver more successful and longer-lasting recovery for patients than current standard of care. Our mission is to develop a new approach to treat cartilage replacement and repair so that the hundreds of thousands of young, active patients with joint damage can return to their lifestyles without having to undergo costly and invasive short-term fixes.

Read more here.

Recent News

10/07/2026

Roanoke Lands $1 Million Federal Grant to Equip RoVa Labs Biotech Incubator

The Roanoke City Council has accepted a $1 million U.S. Small Business Administration grant to purchase advanced laboratory equipment for RoVa Labs, a biotechnology startup incubator that combines biomedical research facilities with business development support. Since opening in May 2026, RoVa Labs has grown to house nine research tenants, and officials say the new funding …

10/07/2026

Kaléo Awarded $96.1 Million BARDA Contract to Advance 2-PAM Auto-Injector for U.S. Chemical Threat Preparedness

Kaléo, a global leader in drug-delivery device technology and auto-injector innovation, today announced it has been awarded a Project BioShield contract by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to support the late-stage development, …

10/05/2026

Virginia Ranked No. 1 in Nation for Workforce Training Program by Area Development

Governor Abigail Spanberger today celebrated that Virginia has been ranked No. 1 in the nation for its workforce training program in Area Development’s 2026 Top States for Doing Business report — reinforcing the Commonwealth’s position as a top state for talent and a national leader in preparing Virginians for high-quality jobs. “Virginia is building the …