In a whirlwind 24 hours, Ferolyn Fellowship alum Shreya Mehta delivered on two fronts: a baby and a sizable funding round for her startup Zenflow, which is developing a minimally invasive treatment to help the nearly 400 million men worldwide who suffer from urinary obstruction due to BPH – benign prostatic hyperplasia or an enlarged prostate.
Mehta’s natural ability to lead and juggle multiple priorities is impressive. Just before being induced with her second child, she finalized the details of a $24 million Series C financing round. “We had hoped to close two weeks prior, but there were some additional terms that came together on Friday right before the birth. “We put some final touches in Saturday morning, I was induced on Saturday night, my daughter was born Sunday, and then the DocuSigns started circulating on Monday. It was a busy time!” she recalled. The confluence of events underscores her extraordinary ability to balance high-stakes negotiations and life’s biggest moments with grace and perseverance.
Of course, her company has been incubating for more than nine months. Mehta co-founded and launched Zenflow in 2014 to fill a critical need in men’s health. Despite the condition’s widespread prevalence and its significant impact on quality of life, treatment options remained limited for years—primarily to medications with modest effectiveness and surgery, which carries risks and does not always guarantee success. However, in recent years, a handful of minimally invasive alternatives have emerged, offering new hope for patients.
One of these is the Zenflow Spring System, designed to prioritize patient comfort and ease of use. This minimally invasive solution utilizes a small, spring-like coil to gently prop open the urethra, restoring normal function while preserving the body’s natural anatomy. Mehta became aware of the problems with BPH treatment options while participating in the Stanford Biodesign program, where she met her eventual company co-founder, Nick Damiano.
Zenflow continues to surge ahead
Initially serving as chief technology officer, Mehta recently stepped into the role of CEO. She was a natural choice for the position, given her direct experience at the FDA and her alignment with the company’s next critical milestone: securing Premarket Approval (PMA), a process the recent funding round will help advance. This funding round featured new investor Cook Medical alongside existing supporters Invus Opportunities, F-Prime Capital, Medical Technology Venture Partners, and others, reflecting strong confidence in the company’s vision and leadership.
Mehta says Zenflow is well-positioned, given its positive pivotal study data, drawn from treating approximately 200 patients in addition to 100 prior to the pivotal study. “This robust clinical evidence is what differentiates us, we have really rigorous data that facilitated our fundraising efforts,” she said.
Beyond the study, the company has been busy presenting and publishing, including an upcoming presentation at the American Urological Association’s annual meeting in April in Las Vegas. The abstract was accepted based on the positive 36-month data from pilot studies, Mehta noted.
And Zenflow continues to fill key positions, including currently hiring in QA, R&D and manufacturing.
The power of community, both personal and professional
Mehta stresses that no one can go it alone in the quest for big achievements, citing the importance of a strong support network. Hers begins with her husband, who has been a wonderful partner and dad throughout Zenflow’s journey, as well as her older daughter, who is wise beyond her years in issues related to medical procedures, board governance and more—all gleaned from listening to Mehta, who prioritizes family above all.
“There’s this myth we need to be ‘superwomen,’ who can do it all. The reality is that in order to successfully juggle so many endeavors, you have to have support from your partner, family and/ or close friends,” she said.
For Mehta, a critical component of that support network includes the medtech startup community, as well as the professionals she met through the Ferolyn Fellowship, whom she still reaches out to for coffee or a call to brainstorm. “It’s an incredible group, and every fellow I know is authentic and candid,” she said. “That’s what makes the community so strong: We share not only the exciting parts, but the hardships too.”
While her Ferolyn Fellowship network is deep, Mehta has stayed particularly close with her mentor, Angela Macfarlane; Claudia Carasso who helped develop and build the program; and fellows Kate Garrett, Holly Rockweiler, and Matt McLean.
“It’s a really tight-knit group of people, and I could not have gone through this part of my career without their perspective and support.”