Investment firm buys majority stake in Firefly Medical

FORT COLLINS — Carlton-Harvey Group, a Georgia-based private-equity firm, has acquired a majority stake in Fort Collins medical-device startup Firefly Medical Inc., as the latter aims to significantly scale up sales.

Carlton-Harvey invested $2.5 million in Firefly, according to a recent regulatory filing, and Firefly co-founder Patrick Bols said Wednesday that there is also an undisclosed loan commitment aside from the equity portion.

Bols, who has served as chief executive for the past year, becomes chairman of the Firefly board with the new transaction. CHG principal Trevor Carlton, meanwhile, will take over as CEO of Firefly, and CHG principal Stuart Harvey becomes president.

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Firefly, 320 E. Vine Dr., will keep its branding, and all eight employees who were with the company prior to the CHG investment will remain.

“Everybody still has a very important job to do here,” Bols said.

The addition of Carlton and Harvey, as well as a new sales manager, boosts the company’s employee count to 11, and Bols said the intent is to add two more employees this year and three to five more in 2017. The new cash infusion will be used largely to beef up sales and marketing, including internationally.

“The most important part of this transaction is we’ll now have seasoned executives managing the company,” Bols said.

Founded in 2013 by Bols, Steve Schmutzer and Keith Burge, Firefly makes a device called the IVEA that aims to replace the standard pole from which IV bags are hung in order to improve patient mobility, nursing staff efficiency and safety for both patients and caregivers.

Firefly officially launched the device in May of last year. Bols declined to disclose revenue.

“Almost immediately we recognized that the IVEA is a solution that could transform the industry,” Carlton said in a news release. “It’s a great story and a great product, and we look forward to working with Firefly to make the IVEA the new standard of care in hospitals around the world.”

Correction: The original version of this story mis-labeled Carlton-Harvey Group as a Fort Collins-based firm. We regret the error.