Phil Fleck

Phil Fleck was a mechanical engineer and medical-device operator turned venture investor. He earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University in 1967 and spent the bulk of his career at Arrow International, the Reading, Pennsylvania–based maker of catheters and critical-care devices, where he worked for over 34 years. He rose through progressively senior technical and operating roles: engineering manager (1975–1986), vice president of research and engineering (1986–1994), and vice president of research and manufacturing (1994–1999).

He was named President and Chief Operating Officer of Arrow International in 1999 and served in that role until his retirement in January 2005, with responsibility for the company's worldwide R&D and manufacturing. He also served a stint as Arrow's interim CEO. His most notable device work was in cardiac assist, including oversight of the LionHeart™ (implantable left ventricular assist system) and CorAide™ blood pump programs.

After leaving Arrow, Fleck brought his hands-on device-development and manufacturing expertise to Norwich Ventures, a venture firm founded in 2004 (alongside Aaron Sandoski and Marlin Miller) that backs entrepreneurs solving big healthcare problems with new medical technologies. As director, his role was to assess the technical feasibility of new technologies and to help portfolio entrepreneurs with product development and manufacturing — precisely the operational gaps that early-stage medtech founders most often lack.

Fleck passed away peacefully at home in Oley, PA, on May 24, 2021, at age 77. Norwich Ventures continues to list him as a co-founder "In Memoriam."

• Invested through Norwich Ventures in early-stage medical device / medtech companies — the firm describes its targets as "entrepreneurs solving big healthcare problems best-suited to new medical technologies."
• Field-agnostic within medicine: the firm has backed companies spanning electrophysiology, genomics, cardiac, diagnostics/imaging, remote monitoring, and women's health.
• Stage: early — from pre-seed/seed through Series A/B, with checks typically ranging from several hundred thousand to a few million dollars.
• What made him distinctive: deep, first-hand medical-device engineering and manufacturing credibility. His value-add was technical diligence and helping founders actually build and manufacture products — not just capital.