START-UP's monthly comprehensive review of emerging life science companies that have received venture funding during the month, including companies within the in vitro diagnostics, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and research/analytical equipment & supplies sectors.

Early intervention is the general rule for success in treating many diseases, but in obesity, patients have to be in bad shape before they're eligible for the most efficacious treatments, which are surgical interventions. Companies with minimally invasive--and anatomy sparing--devices hope to change that paradigm.