As a graduate student in 2008, Smith was part of a team of UC San Diego graduate students that won first place in a prestigious business plan competition organized at the University of Southern California.
Jacobs School roots: A spark for entrepreneurship
Smith arrived at UC San Diego for doctoral studies in bioengineering, an experience that proved to be formative in ways that went far beyond the laboratory. While working towards his PhD, and with the encouragement of his graduate advisors, Smith co-founded a startup spun out of his doctoral research. The startup, called Nasseo, developed a novel nanotube surface technology that he applied to dental and orthopedic technologies making longer-lasting and more robust implants. As an initial sign of success, Nasseo won first prize at the 2012 UC San Diego Entrepreneur Challenge. Smith led the company from inception through product development, FDA 510(k) regulatory clearance, clinical studies, manufacturing scale-up, and commercialization, ultimately bringing the implant technology to patients.
After completing his PhD at UC San Diego, Smith’s entrepreneurial experience led him from orthopedics to ophthalmology. As a BioDesign Fellow at the Stanford Mussalem Center for Biodesign, he was part of the team that created Oculeve, a company that developed a non-invasive neurostimulator designed to treat dry eye disease by stimulating the nasolacrimal gland to increase natural tear production. The innovation went on to attract tens of millions of dollars in venture funding before being approved by the FDA and acquired by Allergan for $125 million with the product launched nationwide to treat patients.
The common thread woven into Nasseo, Oculeve, and now ReefHaven Ventures is: Where is the unmet clinical need, and where does it intersect with market opportunities?
Currently, Smith sees that need and opportunity at the convergence of medical technology, artificial intelligence, and robotics. These three fields are accelerating rapidly and increasingly intersecting in ways that create transformational opportunities for patient care. They are also three areas in which UC San Diego has distinctive strengths, as evidenced by the firm’s first investments.
ReefHaven Ventures’ first investment was in KatoMed, which developed a navigation tool for spine surgery that could result in safer, less costly procedures and improved surgical workflow. KatoMed has deep ties to UC San Diego, including licensing intellectual property developed in the laboratory of Michael Yip, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and participation in the UC San Diego MedTech Accelerator program. The MedTech Accelerator is one of the commercialization programs offered by the Institute for the Global Entrepreneur, a joint program between the Jacobs School of Engineering and Rady School of Management. The MedTech Accelerator prepares promising teams for strategic partnerships and investment.