Serra Ventures Invests $250,000 in Madison-Based Asto CT

Champaign, IL; Madison, WI – WEBWIRE – Friday, May 12, 2017

Champaign, IL - (May 10, 2017) – Asto CT, LLC (Madison, WI), developers of Equina™, a novel multi-slice computed tomography (CT) system to image the limbs of standing horses, has raised $250,000 in Bridge funding from Champaign, Illinois-based venture firm Serra Ventures. Serra is participating in the company’s $1.5M round with an initial commitment of $250,000. Asto CT plans to do a Series A preferred round later in 2017.

David Ergun, CEO of Asto CT says, “Asto CT is thrilled to have Serra Ventures as an investor. This is another huge step towards our goal of bringing safe, affordable CT imaging to the equine veterinary community.”

“The Serra team is very excited to be investing with the Asto CT team. We are excited about what they have built and with the reaction from the equine marketplace. We look forward to assisting the management team as they build this company” said Dennis Beard, a Managing Partner at Serra Ventures.

About Serra Ventures:

Serra Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm investing in technology companies in emerging Midwest technology centers and selected other geographies. Sectors of focus include information technology, devices/instrumentation and agricultural technologies. The profile of an ideal startup is one that has just finished an accelerator program, an Innovation-Corps program or has been through a round of seed funding to establish and prove a strong product-market fit.

Serra Ventures is headquartered in the University of Illinois Research Park in Champaign, Illinois. Champaign’s central Midwest location enables Serra to act local in several Midwest markets. Entrepreneurs know that critical business issues requiring advice are rarely scheduled. Serra’s central location means hands-on work with entrepreneurs at a moment’s notice when they need it the most. For more information, visit www.serraventures.com.

About Asto CT:

The Asto CT Equina™ offers a paradigm shift in equine x-ray CT imaging by providing rapid 3D imaging of the lower limbs and head without subjecting the horses to general anesthesia. With its high-precision robotic technology, the Equina™ is capable of safely imaging the lower limbs under load, as well as the head and neck of the standing horse in a single series.

Major benefits include high-resolution multi-slice CT images, fast scan times suitable for a sedated horse, large-bore gantry for easy positioning and imaging, and flexible horizontal and vertical CT-gantry travel to easily image from head to lower limbs. The system can also be arranged to easily provide standard whole-body scanning of small animals. The wide combination of indications is a cost-effective solution for any veterinary practice.