A Minnesota startup aims to grow the local medical device industry with the help of an overseas partnership.

Bloomington-based med-tech startup Visura Technologies Inc. on Tuesday announced that it has teamed up with the American subsidiary of Japanese manufacturer YKK Corp. to launch a new medical device contract manufacturer in Minnesota.

Known as Evevo Manufacturing LLC, the new organization is designed to meet an “unmet need” for other medical device startups, said Visura president and CEO Christine Horton in an interview Tuesday. Evevo’s services include assembly, testing, packaging, sterilization, and supplier management for other companies’ products. For smaller, newer companies, it can be difficult to find a contract manufacturer, according to Horton.

“A lot of times, contract manufacturers don’t necessarily want to work with you because you’re still at a very small volume,” Horton said. “What we’re hoping Evevo does is focus on those startup and emerging medical device companies that need a partner willing to produce at smaller volumes but still has the experience.”

Evevo is jointly owned by Visura and YKK but operates as its own separate business. It’s based in Maple Lake, about 50 miles northwest of Minneapolis. Evevo began manufacturing products for Visura in October, but Horton said Visura and YKK had been in talks about the joint venture for many months. Minnesota Secretary of State filings show a filing for Evevo Manufacturing LLC on March 31.

“We’ve been working on this for quite some time,” said Horton, who’s been in the medical device industry for three decades.

Today, Evevo operates at a 1,125-square-foot facility in Maple Lake, but Horton said there’s plenty of room to expand based on demand. And she expects strong demand in the months ahead. “They have had interest, and we’ve been making introductions,” Horton said. “I expect them to get very busy fairly quickly. … They’ll be scaling up, which I think is good.”

The Medical Alley Association, a trade group for health-tech companies in Minnesota, has been making introductions, too. Frank Jaskulke, VP of innovation for the association, said that Evevo “bridges a real gap in our ecosystem.”

Visura and YKK have their own history together: In January of this year, YKK provided funding to help complete Visura’s $4 million Series B funding round.

For its part, Visura sells an FDA-approved disposable camera for use in transesophageal echocardiogram intubations. These procedures are otherwise done “blind,” Horton said. “In medicine, any time you can see what you’re doing, there’s a huge advantage.” Visura’s device gives physicians “real-time visualization” to help eliminate adverse effects, she noted. Horton said the company has no competitors as of yet in the space.

Visura has eight employees in total, along with six regular contractors. The company was founded in Evanston, Illinois, by cardiologist Dr. David Marmor but moved its headquarters to Bloomington in 2019.