Grove Instruments, Inc., a medical-device company developing a non-invasive instrument to measure glucose levels in diabetics, today announced that its second round of private placement funding raised $6 million, with interested investors still left at the close.
The round was completed by new investors from the Greater Boston area and current shareholders, said Arthur Combs, the Worcester-based company’s CEO.
“In the end, we were actually oversubscribed for this round,” he said.
Combs attributed the company’s success to its technical progress and recent additions of key individuals to its board of directors and scientific advisory board.
During the fourth quarter, Grove added two recognized leaders in diabetes care and research: William Tamborlane of Yale University and David Harlan of the University of Massachusetts and formerly of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
Most recently, Nobel laureate Craig Mello, a molecular biologist who has a child with Type 1 diabetes, also joined Grove’s board of directors.
“Investors invest in people before technology,” Combs said. “Nearly everyone knows someone with (diabetes) and has seen the pain, cost and long-term detriment of invasive glucose monitoring.”
Grove’s glucometer, which is still in the development stage and has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, is designed to be held up to the earlobe and use wavelengths of light to isolate glucose, he said.
“No needles, no pain, no blood,” Combs said.
The company is finishing a large-scale clinical trial and expects to discuss the results early next year, he said.
This year, Grove was recognized by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center with an Accelerator Award, making it one of only four recipients out of all Boston-area life sciences companies applying in that round.