California-based Mendaera, a healthcare robotics company, announced that it had secured $24 million in Series A funding, led by Lux Capital.
Operator Partners, Founders Fund and Allen & Company participated in the round alongside investors Auris Health founder Dr. Fred Moll, Intuitive Surgical and former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey.
WHAT IT DOES
Mendaera completed the research and design process of a collaborative robotic system that merges real-time imaging, AI and robotics to help providers make “precise and consistent intervention more accessible.” It plans to open a production facility to complete development of its technology and obtain FDA clearance.
“Despite the impact that robotics has already made in healthcare, our team has worked diligently to develop a new category of robotic technology that will streamline patient care. We believe there is an opportunity to push the category further and dramatically improve access to intervention,” Mendaera CEO and cofounder Josh DeFonzo told MobiHealthNews in an email.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
The use of robotics in medicine has swelled over the past several decades, and many companies are offering this emerging technology to help providers improve their practice.
Diligent Robotics offers its Moxi robot, which performs delivery tasks for hospital workers, like getting supplies from central storage, bringing patients’ personal items, distributing personal protective equipment, delivering medications, delivering lab samples and moving light-weight equipment between units.
In 2022, the company raised over $30 million in a Series B funding round, building on a $10 million Series A round from March 2020.
Other companies offering robotics in healthcare include Hangzhou RoboCT Technology Development Co., maker of rehabilitation robots in China, and NexStem, a robotics company based in California with a research and development team in India that created a headset that can be controlled by a user’s thoughts.
