Virtual Incision, a US-based robotic surgery device developer backed by pharmaceutical company SinoPharm, received $20m yesterday in a series B-plus round led by venture capital firm Bluestem Capital.
VC firms PrairieGold Venture Partners and Genesis Innovation Group joined unnamed affiliated investors in the round, which incorporated $1m in debt financing from Bluestem Capital and PrairieGold that was disclosed in August 2019 according to Silicon Prairie News.
Founded in 2006, Virtual Incision has created a robotically-assisted device for carrying out minimally-invasive colectomies in order to treat severe complications in the gastrointestinal tract.
The Mira Surgical Robotic Platform weighs just two pounds and is inserted into the patient’s abdomen via a single umbilical incision. The cash will drive regulatory and clinical work on the device as the company prepares to apply to the US Food and Drug Administration for investigational device exemption status.
The designation would allow Virtual Incision to begin a clinical study of its device in colon resection surgery, with a view to securing regulatory approval. Its product pipeline also includes miniaturised surgical devices for hernia repair and gallbladder removal.
The company raised $18m in a 2017 series B round co-led by SinoPharm’s investment vehicle, SinoPharm Capital, and Bluestem Capital, with participation from PrairieGold and undisclosed additional investors.
Virtual Incision secured $535,000 from unnamed investors in 2006. It added $2m in a series A round co-led by PrairieGold and Bluestem Capital in 2010 and $11.2m in a round featuring both of them five years later.
The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.