Laurence Hicks

Laurence "Larry" Hicks is a career medical-device operator with more than 30 years in the industry, now investing through Drake Partners, LLC, the Boston-based firm where he is Managing Partner. Drake Partners describes itself as a management and investment firm "comprised of Healthcare Product and Service executives with extensive operating experience in successfully transitioning medical device companies from product concept through commercialization and exit," offering support across market analysis, fundraising, regulatory approval, product development, launch and distribution. Hicks holds a BA from Fairfield University.

His operating career began in field sales at ACMI, an endoscopy market leader, before he moved to Karl Storz Endoscopy, where he rose to lead US Sales and Operations. In 2004 he rejoined ACMI to help lead a sale process (reported at 19x EBITDA in 2005) and then served as President & CEO within the Gyrus Group. He subsequently became President & CEO of NeuroTherm (a Cortec company), which he built from roughly $10M in revenue and 10 employees into a vertically integrated ~$50M company with offices in Boston, London, Amsterdam and Düsseldorf; NeuroTherm was sold for a reported 5x return on invested capital over five years during the 2007–2012 period.

Hicks then spent about two and a half years acquiring and integrating Z-Medica (maker of QuikClot/Combat Gauze hemostatic products) into the portfolio of the private-equity firm DWHP, where he is a Limited Partner and advisor across Funds II–V and has served on multiple portfolio boards. More recently he was named CEO of Healthcare Components Group (2021), a global manufacturer of OEM and replacement parts for medical-device manufacturing and repair, and in October 2023 became CEO of Prestige Medical Imaging (PMI), an Atlantic Street Capital–backed radiology service and solutions provider headquartered in Newburgh, NY. From September 2021 to August 2024 he also served as an independent director of Nasdaq-listed Arch Therapeutics, Inc. (ARTH), a biomaterials/wound-sealing company, resigning from that board effective August 28, 2024.

• Invests and advises primarily in medical devices and healthcare products/services, the sector where he has spent his entire operating career.
• Operates through Drake Partners, LLC, which backs and shepherds medical-device companies "from product concept through commercialization and exit" — meaning capital paired with hands-on operating help (regulatory, prototyping, manufacturing, product launch, M&A and exit).
• Value proposition is operator-led: deep experience in "business development through M&A, deal structuring and execution of successful exit strategies," plus a flexible fee/engagement structure per the firm's site.
• Track record oriented toward private-equity-style growth-and-exit outcomes (e.g., the 5x NeuroTherm exit; ACMI sale; Z-Medica integration), suggesting he favors companies with a credible path to commercialization and acquisition.
• In his own words on why he joins a company: *"[the] technology has the potential to dramatically improve outcomes for millions of patients, and I am honored to have the opportunity to contribute to their growth"* (on joining Arch Therapeutics' board).