About Okami Medical

Our DNA

About Okami

Okami Medical, Inc. is a privately-held medical device company with a mission to address the evolving needs of patients and physicians through the development of innovative, versatile, and intuitive devices for the occlusion of peripheral vessels. Okami designed the LOBO^® Vascular Occlusion System to allow physicians to access and rapidly occlude a wide range of vascular targets. The company was created in 2017 by Inceptus Medical, a medical device incubator. Okami is backed by members of the board of directors, Vensana Capital, U.S. Venture Partners (USVP), and other medical device industry veterans.

Management Team

Rhonda Robb

President & Chief Executive Officer

Rhonda was most recently Chief Operating Officer at Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. In that role she was responsible for the general management of the Company and for the operating systems and structures to ensure execution of the Company’s key strategies and initiatives for growth and international expansion. Rhonda led US Sales, International, Marketing, Health Economics, Reimbursement, Product Development, Clinical Affairs, Quality, Regulatory Affairs and the Information Technology functions. Prior to CSI, she was Vice President and General Manager for the Structural Heart Business at Medtronic, where she provided leadership for the transcatheter heart valve and surgical heart valve franchises. Rhonda held additional leadership positions at Medtronic in the Cardiac & Vascular space in Interventional Cardiology and in Cardiac Rhythm and Heart Failure with leadership roles in strategic marketing, market development, business/commercial leadership, strategy, portfolio development and education. She also serves on the Board of 4C Medical. Rhonda earned a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Minnesota and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Carlson School of Business, at the University of Minnesota.

Terry Hardin

Vice President of Technology & Strategy

Terry has broad functional experience in the medical device space with a focus on early stage companies. Prior to Okami, he served as Vice President of Technology and Product Management at Cianna Medical, which developed and commercialized the SCOUT Radar Surgical Guidance System. The company was acquired by Merit Medical for $200M. Terry held additional roles at Cianna Medical in marketing, product management and sales. Prior to Cianna, Terry was a Product Development Engineer at Suros Surgical Systems, helping to develop an innovative product line that led to a $240M acquisition by Hologic. Terry earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering and M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He is an inventor on over 15 issued U.S. and international patents.

Steve Kain

Vice President of Marketing & Commercial Operations

Steve joined Okami Medical as the Vice President of Marketing and Commercial Operations in May of 2024. Before Okami, Steve spent 2 years consulting for several start-up and early-stage commercial medical device organizations. Prior to consulting, Steve was at Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. where he served as the Vice President of Marketing and Commercial Operations, responsible for leading the marketing, portfolio strategy, commercial operations, and health economics and reimbursement functions. Throughout his career at both Cardiovascular Systems and previously at Medtronic, Steve held several leadership roles in international, strategy, marketing, finance, and business development. Steve graduated with a B.A. Degree from Luther College and an M.B.A. from the Carlson School of Business, at the University of Minnesota.

Paul Lubock

Co-Founder & Vice President Operations and R&D

Paul is a Principal and a founder of Inceptus Medical, a medical device incubator founded in 2011. At Inceptus, he was a founder of Inari Medical (NASDAQ: NARI) and served as Vice President until 2017 and on the Board of Directors from 2011 until 2020. Prior to Inceptus and Inari, he was a founder of SenoRx, which was acquired by C.R. Bard for $213M. He served as Chief Technical Officer from 1999 and Senior Vice President from April 2009 until his departure in 2011. Paul also served on the Board of Directors from 1998 to 2001 and served as Chief Operating Officer from 1998 to 1999. Prior to 1998, Paul was a founder and President of Abacus Design & Development, a medical product development company, and the founder of Laparomed, which was acquired by Advanced Surgical. Paul held various positions at Laparomed, including President, Vice President of Engineering and served on its Board of Directors. Previously he was Vice President of Engineering at Medstone and held engineering management roles at Shiley/Pfizer and Thoratec. Paul holds over 198 issued U.S. patents. He earned his B.A. in Applied Mechanics and Engineering Science from the University of California, San Diego and his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

Board of Directors

Bob Rosenbluth, Ph.D.

Co-Founder & Chairman of the Board

Bob has an extensive background of leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the medical device industry. Bob was a founder of Okami Medical and served as its CEO through 2023. Bob is also a founder of Inceptus Medical, a medical device incubator founded in 2011. Inceptus Medical incubated Inari Medical (NASDAQ: NARI), where Bob was a founder of Inari Medical, serving as President and CEO from its inception in 2011 through 2015 and as Chairman of the Board from inception until its IPO in May 2020. Prior to Inceptus and Inari, Bob was a founder, CEO, and Chairman of Sequent Medical. Sequent was acquired by Terumo Medical Corporation in 2016 for $380M. Before Sequent, Bob was a founder of MicroVention, serving as President and CEO from its inception in 1997 through 2002 and as Chairman of the Board from inception until its acquisition by Terumo. Prior to founding MicroVention, he founded Advanced Surgical Intervention and served as President and CEO from its inception through its acquisition by Uromed in 1996. Bob also served in various R&D, business development and senior management positions at Medtronic, Pfizer/Shiley, and Cardiothoracic Systems. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University, an M.S. in Chemical Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from University of California, Berkeley. Bob is the recipient of the 2023 Phoenix Conference Innovator award for his contributions to MedTech innovation.

Rhonda Robb

President & Chief Executive Officer

Bill Hoffman

Board Member

Mr. Hoffman is a Venture Partner at Vensana Capital. He serves as a member of the board of directors for several med tech companies, including Inari Medical, where he held the CEO role from 2015 until 2022, leading the company through its initial public offering and helping to establish it as the global leader in the treatment of venous thromboembolism. He previously served as CEO at Visualase, acquired by Medtronic in 2014, and VP of Sales at FoxHollow Technologies, acquired by ev3 in 2007.

Mike Kramer

Board Member

Mike Kramer is a Partner at Vensana Capital. Mike brings over 20 years of experience in operations, finance, and accounting to Vensana. Prior to joining Vensana in 2021, Mike was an Operating Partner at CRG LP, a leading provider of structured debt and equity capital for growth stage healthcare companies, where he advised on multiple medtech company investments and worked directly with the boards of CRG’s portfolio companies. Previously, Mike has served as CFO or COO at private and public medical device companies including Endologix, TriVascular (IPO, acquired), and ATS Medical (IPO, acquired). In addition, he served as a manager in the assurance and advisory services practice at Ernst & Young LLP. Mike is a certified public accountant (inactive) and received a Bachelor of Accountancy from the University of North Dakota.

Paul Lubock

Co-Founder & Vice President Operations and R&D

Donald Milder

Board Member

Donald Milder has served as a member of our board of directors since 2017. In 1999, Mr. Milder co-founded Versant Venture Management, LLC, or Versant, where he has been a Managing Director since its inception. Versant is a venture capital firm that invests in medical devices, biotechnology, life science, pharmaceuticals and healthcare sectors. Previously, Mr. Milder was a Managing Director with CPVP Management LP from August 1989 to November 1999, where he was responsible for their healthcare investments. Prior to this, Mr. Milder was the Chief Executive Officer of Infusion Systems Corporation from 1984 to 1989. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Inari Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ: NARI) and as a board member for Eclipse Regenesis, Inc., NeoSeq Ltd. and Ceres Foundation. Mr. Milder received a B.A. from Union College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Kirk Nielsen

Board Member

Kirk Nielsen is a Managing Partner at Vensana Capital. Kirk co-founded Vensana in 2019 as a Managing Director at Versant Ventures, where he led the firm’s medtech practice. He joined Versant in 2006 from Medtronic, where he worked in sales & marketing in the company’s Cardiac Rhythm Management division. Previously, he spent time at Fluidigm (a Versant portfolio company) and he also served as a consultant at Bain & Company, where he advised clients in healthcare, private equity, and other industries. Prior to his business career, Kirk was a professional hockey player. Kirk has led or co-led investments in numerous companies that have successfully exited, including Artelon (acquired), Biotie Therapies (acquired), Cameron Health (acquired), CardiAQ (acquired), Inari Medical (IPO), Lutonix (acquired), NeuWave Medical (acquired), Sequent Medical (acquired), and Veran Medical (acquired), and he remains active with Alleviant Medical, CVRx (IPO), Elucent Medical, iVEAcare, Moxe, Okami Medical, and SpyGlass Pharma. Kirk has also served as a member of the board of directors of the National Venture Capital Association. Kirk graduated with an AB in Biology from Harvard College, where he won the John P. Reardon award as the school’s top scholar-athlete, and he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar.

Jonathan Root, M.D.

Board Member

Jonathan Root, M.D. has served as a member of our board of directors since 2017. Dr. Root has served as Managing Member of Presidio Management Group, LLC and several U.S. Venture Partners’ funds since 1998. Dr. Root currently serves on the boards of Inari Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ: NARI), a leading medical device company focused on the treatment of venous thromboembolism, chronic venous disease and chronic limb threatening ischemia, and Edgewise Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: EWTX), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on treating severe, rare muscle disorders and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Dr. Root also serves on the board of directors of several private companies in the healthcare industry. Dr. Root received an A.B. from Dartmouth College, an M.D. from University of Florida, College of Medicine and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.