Albuquerque-based Tramway Venture Partners recently earned national recognition as Early-Stage VC Firm of the Year, an award Managing Partner Chris Japp said reflects not only the firm’s work but also the growing strength of New Mexico’s medtech sector.

Japp accepted the award at the 2026 MedTech World North America conference in May. He told Business First that the honor historically has gone to venture capital firms on the East or West coasts, where much of the industry’s activity is concentrated.

“Typically, they focus on the coasts, usually because that’s where a lot of this takes place,” Japp said. “But I think they decided, ‘Let’s look at some other parts of the U.S. where there’s a lot of terrific work being done to develop the segment.”

About 5,000 people in the industry vote on the award, he said.

“We might do follow-on or Series B, but there are some things, especially in biotech, that you need $50 million just to invest in something,” Japp said.

One example is Nob Hill Therapeutics, which is developing a drug inhalation device platform to treat lung-related diseases.

“They just finished animal trials. They’re now going into human trials,” Japp said. “And for that it’s going to take $20 million.”

Because of the size of those later funding rounds, Tramway typically participates only on a limited basis after its initial investments.

Read more at Albuquerque Business First