The Californer - Connect Spotlights ReefHaven Ventures as Emerging Fund Backing San Diego Health Innovation

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An early-stage fund investing at the intersection of health innovation, AI, and robotics - including devices, diagnostics, and AI-driven health with recent backing of UC San Diego-rooted surgical navigation company KatoMed.

SAN DIEGO - Californer -- Connect, the nonprofit organization supporting San Diego's innovation ecosystem for more than 40 years, today spotlights ReefHaven Ventures, an early-stage venture fund backing MedTech innovation at the convergence of artificial intelligence and robotics, from seed through Series A investments..

Founded by experienced operators, entrepreneurs, and investors, ReefHaven Ventures is focused on supporting founders building technologies that move from breakthrough ideas to meaningful patient impact. The fund provides early capital, operational guidance, investor perspective, and access to an ecosystem designed to help healthcare companies reach critical clinical and commercial milestones.

ReefHaven is led by UC San Diego Alum Garrett Smith, PhD, Managing Partner, and Nicholas Mourlas, PhD, Investment Partner. Together, they bring deep experience across company formation, venture investing, medical device innovation, and commercialization. Their backgrounds include founding, scaling, and exiting companies, as well as investing in and supporting companies across life sciences and MedTech.

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"ReefHaven represents the kind of capital partner that strengthens San Diego's innovation economy," said James Zanewicz, CEO of Connect. "The team understands what founders face at the earliest stages because they have built, funded, and scaled companies themselves. That operating experience matters, especially in healthcare, where the path from concept to commercialization requires both technical depth and trusted networks."

ReefHaven Ventures is also an active partner within the UC San Diego innovation ecosystem, including close collaboration with the MedTech Accelerator, which is affiliated with the Institute for the Global Entrepreneur at the Jacobs School of Engineering. Notably, ReefHaven's investment in KatoMed, a company developing surgical navigation technology to improve accuracy and workflow in spine procedures, was sourced and initially vetted through the MedTech Accelerator. The MedTech Accelerator serves as a critical, campus-wide resource, supporting startups across UC San Diego, including students, faculty, clinicians, and alumni. ReefHaven Ventures also co-invested alongside Kyocera Ventures in this seed round.

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KatoMed reflects the type of opportunity ReefHaven was built to support: clinically grounded, technically differentiated, and rooted in strong collaboration across academia, engineering, medicine, and strategic industry partners.

As San Diego continues to grow as a center for life science and technology innovation, ReefHaven's emergence adds another important layer to the region's capital landscape, helping early-stage healthcare founders access the funding, expertise, and relationships needed to build enduring companies.

Learn more about ReefHaven Ventures at https://reefhavenventures.com/.