# Joe Mandato

> Joe Mandato is a funding round investor at DeNovo Ventures backing Health Care and Medical Device. See 18 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [DeNovo Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/denovo-ventures)
- Location: San Francisco, United States
- Total investments: 18
- Last investment: Nov 2019
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-mandato-4223766/

Joe Mandato is a funding round investor at DeNovo Ventures in San Francisco focused on Health Care and Medical Device. Joe joined De Novo Ventures as a Managing Director in March 2003. Prior to joining De Novo, Joe served as Chairman of Confer Software, a developer of software used to create efficiencies and streamline processes in healthcare. He also served as President/CEO of Origin Medsystems, a developer of minimally invasive surgical devices for usein general, cardio-thoracic, and ob-gyn surgery, which was acquired by Eli Lilly & Company in 1992 and spun out as one of the units which formed Guidant Corporation in 1995. At Guidant, Joe served as a member of the founding management committee and CEO of two of its five operating units, Origin and Heart Rhythm Technology. He also co-founded and served as CEO of Gynecare, a women’s health spin-out of Guidant, which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson. Subsequent to his tenure at Guidant, he served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Mayfield Fund, a venture capital firm. Earlier in his career, he was CEO of Ioptex Research, a developer of intraocular lenses used in cataract surgery, which was acquired by Smith & Nephew PLC. He joined Ioptex from Cilco AG in Zug, Switzerland, the Europe, Middle East, and Africa headquarters of a unit of Rorer Group, where he served as CEO. He began his career in healthcare as a Captain in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps.Joe received his Doctor of Management from Case Western Reserve University, and serves on its Board of Trustees. His research focused on the evolving role of boards in ensuring effective governance. He serves on the adjunct faculty of The University of San Francisco’s Graduate School of Management and co-teaches the course Medical Device Innovation at Stanford University. He also serves on the boards of The Institute of International Education and Save the Children.Joe sits on the boards of Axogen, Endogastric Solutions, Facet Solutions, Hansen Medical (NASDAQ: HNSN), iScience Interventional, InSound Medical, Kolis Scientific, Luminous Medical, M2 Medical and WaveTec Vision Systems.

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $200k–$3.1M |
| Series D | $16M–$43M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Health Care | 7 | 39% |
| Medical Device | 6 | 33% |
| Medical | 3 | 17% |
| Biotechnology | 3 | 17% |
| Wellness | 2 | 11% |

13 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Funding Round | 4 | 22% |
| Seed | 2 | 11% |
| Series D | 2 | 11% |
| Series E | 2 | 11% |
| Series F | 2 | 11% |

8 stages tracked in total.

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Emme | Emme is a healthcare technology company with a mission to put women's health in women's hands, starting with birth control. Their first product, the Emme Smart Case and app, is an integrated technology-enabled solution designed to safeguard the birth control experience and help reduce the rate of missed pills. The pill forever changedwomen's health in 1960—Emme is making it compatible with the 21st century. For more information, visit https://www.emme.com. | $200K | Seed | Nov 25, 2019 |  |
| Avedro | Avedro is a privately held medical device and pharmaceutical company advancing the science and technology of corneal cross-linking. Avedro recently completed its US‐based, multi-centered, Phase III studies of corneal cross-linking for the treatment of progressive keratoconus and corneal ectasia following refractive surgery. Outside the UnitedStates, Avedro has commercialized both VibeX and its KXL System for performing Lasik Xtra and accelerated cross-linking. Additionally, Avedro is developing the science of Thermo‐biomechanics for therapeutic medical applications. The Keraflex® refractive correction procedure is the first technology developed from the Thermo‐biomechanics platform and is a non‐invasive, incision‐less ophthalmic procedure for flattening the cornea without the removal of tissue. Keraflex offers the unique ability to induce refractive change without weakening the cornea’s biomechanical integrity, as happens with Lasik and other refractive correction procedures. Keraflex is commercially available outside of the United States. | $25M | Series F | May 02, 2018 |  |
| Avedro | Avedro is a privately held medical device and pharmaceutical company advancing the science and technology of corneal cross-linking. Avedro recently completed its US‐based, multi-centered, Phase III studies of corneal cross-linking for the treatment of progressive keratoconus and corneal ectasia following refractive surgery. Outside the UnitedStates, Avedro has commercialized both VibeX and its KXL System for performing Lasik Xtra and accelerated cross-linking. Additionally, Avedro is developing the science of Thermo‐biomechanics for therapeutic medical applications. The Keraflex® refractive correction procedure is the first technology developed from the Thermo‐biomechanics platform and is a non‐invasive, incision‐less ophthalmic procedure for flattening the cornea without the removal of tissue. Keraflex offers the unique ability to induce refractive change without weakening the cornea’s biomechanical integrity, as happens with Lasik and other refractive correction procedures. Keraflex is commercially available outside of the United States. | $42M |  | Apr 27, 2017 |  |
| EndoGastric Solutions | EndoGastric Solutions, Inc. (www.endogastricsolutions.com), is a medical device company developing and commercializing innovative, evidence-based, incisionless surgical technology for the treatment of GERD. EGS has combined the most advanced concepts in gastroenterology and surgery to develop the Transoral Incisionless Fundoplication (TIF®) 2.0procedure—a minimally invasive solution that addresses a significant unmet clinical need.EndoGastric Solutions, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. | $30M | Series G | May 06, 2014 |  |
| Gauss Surgical | Gauss Surgical is a med-tech company that develops a vision-based platform for accurate and real-time measurement of surgical blood loss. They develop beautiful applications for iOS backed by sophisticated algorithms and a robust, HIPAA-compliant technical stack to enable real-time monitoring during surgery. The company was incorporated in 2011and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. | $3.1M | Seed | Sep 01, 2013 |  |
| Avedro | Avedro is a privately held medical device and pharmaceutical company advancing the science and technology of corneal cross-linking. Avedro recently completed its US‐based, multi-centered, Phase III studies of corneal cross-linking for the treatment of progressive keratoconus and corneal ectasia following refractive surgery. Outside the UnitedStates, Avedro has commercialized both VibeX and its KXL System for performing Lasik Xtra and accelerated cross-linking. Additionally, Avedro is developing the science of Thermo‐biomechanics for therapeutic medical applications. The Keraflex® refractive correction procedure is the first technology developed from the Thermo‐biomechanics platform and is a non‐invasive, incision‐less ophthalmic procedure for flattening the cornea without the removal of tissue. Keraflex offers the unique ability to induce refractive change without weakening the cornea’s biomechanical integrity, as happens with Lasik and other refractive correction procedures. Keraflex is commercially available outside of the United States. | $43M | Series D | Mar 05, 2013 |  |
| EndoGastric Solutions | EndoGastric Solutions, Inc. (www.endogastricsolutions.com), is a medical device company developing and commercializing innovative, evidence-based, incisionless surgical technology for the treatment of GERD. EGS has combined the most advanced concepts in gastroenterology and surgery to develop the Transoral Incisionless Fundoplication (TIF®) 2.0procedure—a minimally invasive solution that addresses a significant unmet clinical need.EndoGastric Solutions, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. | $13M |  | Jun 21, 2012 |  |
| WaveTec Vision | WaveTec Vision is a small company with a big idea – and the ability and the team to achieve it. Their proprietary intraoperative aberrometer system ORange will transform and advance the emerging convergence of refractive and cataract surgery. It was founded in 1997 and headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California. | $16.5M |  | Apr 09, 2012 |  |
| EndoGastric Solutions | EndoGastric Solutions, Inc. (www.endogastricsolutions.com), is a medical device company developing and commercializing innovative, evidence-based, incisionless surgical technology for the treatment of GERD. EGS has combined the most advanced concepts in gastroenterology and surgery to develop the Transoral Incisionless Fundoplication (TIF®) 2.0procedure—a minimally invasive solution that addresses a significant unmet clinical need.EndoGastric Solutions, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. | $2.1M |  | Apr 01, 2012 |  |
| iScience Interventional | iScience Interventionalâ„¢ discovers and develops microcatheter and imaging technologies that enable ophthalmologists to deliver site-specific ocular therapies.This new category of therapy is called Interventional Ophthalmology. It encompasses microcatheter-based therapies designed to access a wide range of anatomical structures within the eyeto aspirate ocular fluids or deliver sterile ophthalmic solutions to the eye. | $2.8M |  | Jan 27, 2012 |  |

10 of 18 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Advanced Technology Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/advanced-technology-ventures) — VC Fund, 7 deals together
- [Foundation Medical Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/foundation-medical-partners) — VC Fund, 7 deals together
- [Chicago Growth Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/chicago-growth-partners) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [Radius Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/radius-ventures) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [HealthQuest Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/heathquest-capital-2) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [InterWest Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/interwest-partners) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

## About DeNovo Ventures

VC Fund · Saratoga, United States

DeNovo Ventures was formed in 2000 by seasoned investors and experienced medical device entrepreneurs who sought to share the lessons learned from a history of successful investing and building successful companies. They believed that their unique combination of skills and perspectives could help entrepreneurs to build companies which would havesignificant clinical impact and generate superior returns. Seven years later, this belief continues to hold true, demonstrated by investment success in selected medical device and biotechnology companies. With $650 million under management, De Novo has made more than 40 investments in medical devices and biotechnology across three funds. They invest in all stages of enterprise development and growth – from early stage to late stage. The unique background of leading companies as entrepreneurs and operating executives from start to exit enables us to advise entrepreneurs and management teams over the full life cycle of the company.

5 contacts available at DeNovo Ventures.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Richard Ferrari | Co - Founder & Managing Director | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/richard-ferrari |
| David M. Mauney | co-founder and Managing Director | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/david-m-mauney |
| Frederick Dotzler | Managing Director | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/frederick-dotzler |
| Jay Watkins | Managing Director | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jay-watkins |
| Joe Mandato | Managing Director | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/joe-mandato |

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## FAQ

### What does Joe Mandato invest in?

Joe Mandato invests primarily in Health Care, Medical Device and Medical startups, most often at Funding Round and Seed stage. Most of the 18 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Joe Mandato's check size?

Joe Mandato typically joins rounds of $200k–$3.1M at Seed and $16M–$43M at Series D. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Joe Mandato participates in.

### When did Joe Mandato last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Joe Mandato closed in Nov 2019. Shizune tracks 18 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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