Glaukos makes WSJ list

Laguna Hills, CA-Ophthalmic medical device company Glaukos Corp. has been named to The Wall Street Journal’s “The Next Big Thing” list, which ranks the 50 venture-backed companies it deems most promising.

The list is based on proprietary data from Dow Jones VentureSource and input from Dow Jones VentureWire’s reporters and editors. Glaukos, ranked number 19, was selected from a pool of more than 5,000 companies.

“Venture capitalists are always looking for companies with a new idea that will prove powerful enough to explode into the marketplace,” said Alan Murray, deputy managing editor of the Wall Street Journal. “The Next Big Thing’ highlights companies that we believe are worth watching and have a chance to make waves in their industry.”

Thomas Burns, chief executive officer of Glaukos, said, “It is humbling to be given such an accolade and named within this elite group of privately held companies. This honor is testament to the strength of our management team and core technologies, the seasoning and track record of our board of directors, and our continued ability to raise venture capital to fund this business to help create this new glaucoma surgical marketplace.”

To be eligible for this year’s ranking, a company must have been based in the United States, raised an equity round of financing in the 3 years ended Nov. 30, 2010, and had a valuation of no more than $1 billion. Glaukos has raised $126 million to develop three generations of microstent devices to treat glaucoma. The company recently raised $29.5 million in an effort led by Meritech Capital Partners.

The rankings were calculated by applying a set of four financial criteria: the track records of success for a company’s founders and management, track records for the investors on its board, the amount of capital raised in the past 3 years, and the percentage change in a company’s valuation in the past year.