UK-based medical device developer Cambridge Medical Robotics (CMR) raised $20.3m yesterday in a series A round that featured ABB Technology Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of power and automation group ABB.
Asset management firm LGT Global Invest and Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), an investment firm whose backers include semiconductor manufacturer ARM, Cambridge University’s endowment fund and commercialisation firm IP Group, also participated.
Founded in 2014, Cambridge Medical Robotics is working on robotic systems to make keyhole surgery easier to master and less physically demanding for the surgeon. Keyhole, or minimal access surgery, means patients benefit from less scarring and trauma and faster recovery times.
The company launched clinical cadaveric trials last month and will use the series A funding to support further development and commercialisation of its technology, as well as to drive recruitment with a view of gaining regulatory approval.
Massimo Muzzi, vice-president of business development for ABB Robotics, and CIC investment director Robert Tansley will join the company’s board of directors. Egor Kulkov, of existing shareholder Escala Capital, will also join the board.
Escala provided an undisclosed amount of seed funding in 2014.
Girish Nadkarni, president of ABB Technology Ventures, said: “ABB invests in CMR as the company has what looks to be the next-generation platform for minimal access surgery, a field with an enormous potential given today’s expanding needs in the health care industry.
“Furthermore, CMR’s technologies can have even wider application as the robotic world moves toward fully versatile, collaborative robotic systems.”