US-based healthcare technology developer Gauss Surgical has received $20m in series C funding from investors including SoftBank Korea Ventures, an early-stage investment arm of telecommunications conglomerate SoftBank.
Health systems Northwell Health and Memorial Hermann Health System also took part, as did the corporate venturing arms of peers UNC/Rex Healthcare, OSF Healthcare, Providence Healthcare, Orlando Health, Spectrum Health and Mount Sinai Health System.
The aforementioned corporate venturing units are Rex Health Ventures, OSF Ventures, Providence Ventures, Orlando Health Ventures, Spectrum Health Ventures and Mount Sinai Ventures. The round was filled out by LS Polaris Innovation Fund, which is managed by investment firm Polaris Partners.
Founded in 2011, Gauss Surgical is developing mobile apps for the operating theatre that rely on computer vision and machine learning.
The company’s first product is Triton, a monitoring tool that processes scans of surgical sponges and canisters taken with a tablet to calculate a patient’s blood loss in real time. The software has been adopted by 50 hospitals across the US to date.
The funding will enable Gauss to accelerate the adoption of Triton across more hospitals and to develop additional applications.
Gauss has raised $44.6m in funding to date. Providence Ventures contributed to a $12.6m series B round for the company in 2016 that included Summation Health Ventures, a VC fund formed by healthcare providers MemorialCare Health System and Cedars-Sinai Health System.
The series B round also featured the Stanford University-backed Stanford-StartX Fund, as well as Promus Ventures, LifeForce Ventures and Jump Capital.
Summation had already backed a $12m series A round for Gauss in 2015 that was led by Promus and backed by LifeForce Ventures. The company’s shareholders also include Taube Investment Partners and assorted angel investors.
