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The Microsure MUSA surgical robot. | Image credit: Microsure

Microsure, a Dutch developer of micro-surgical robotics, today announced the closing of a financing round of $3.25M (€ 2.7 million), as an extension of the 2020 Series B round. The funds will be used to continue the initial clinical roll-out of MUSA, the first CE-marked and approved micro-surgical robot assistant. This round was led by Invest-NL, the other 50% of the funding came from the existing shareholders BOM Brabant Ventures and venture capital investor Innovation Industries, as well as from private investor Ten Cate Investeringsmaatschappij (TCIM).

MUSA is the world’s first clinically available CE-certified surgical robot assistant for microsurgeons. The device has been developed by a team of engineers and surgeons, creating a groundbreaking solution and compatible with current operating techniques, instruments and other operation room-equipment. MUSA seamlessly scales down motion and filters out tremor to keep a steady hand at any time throughout every microsurgical procedure. This can greatly improve clinical outcomes for various micro-surgical indications such as lymphatic-venous anastomosis, distal nerve repair, vascularized tissue transplantation and many other complex microsurgical procedures.

The initial planned clinical roll-out of MUSA was seriously delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, giving the company the opportunity to also further develop a number of improvements to the current MUSA system, which will be available on the market in the course of 2022.

Wouter van Westenbrugge, senior investment manager at Invest-NL adds: “Invest-NL is a Dutch impact investor committed to businesses and projects focusing on making The Netherlands more sustainable and innovative. To that respect, Microsure’s activities and goals fit right in our TOPSS program and thus we’re thrilled to be able to support Microsure on their exciting journey to further improve micro-surgery systems. High-tech innovation in key technologies is critical for the Netherlands in the future and will improve people’s lives.”

Microsure hires new CEO

In mid 2020, Microsure appointed Sjaak Deckers PhD as its new CEO, to lead the company into its next phase of market entry. Deckers is an experienced MedTech executive with broad product development experience, as CEO of two earlier MedTech startup companies, GTX Medical and Sapiens (Steering Brain Stimulation), and as venture partner at European Healthtech Builder NLC. He also held senior management positions at Medtronic, Philips Healthcare and Philips Research, where his latest role was Senior Director Business Development Healthcare.

Deckers said, “Despite the Covid-19 restrictions, our engineers have made tremendous improvements to the current MUSA system, and our clinical team gained further adoption experience of microsurgery in the Netherlands with the MUSA system. Microsure has attracted strong interest from multiple key sites, and users from across Europe to further advance its unique robot assisted microsurgical technology platform. This investment will help us expediting our further clinical validation and adoption across multiple sites. It will scale up our business presence, addressing the unique clinical needs for microsurgeons.”

Tom Schwarz, chairman of the supervisory board representing Innovation Industries comments: “This investment round enables the Microsure team to continue with their clinical evaluations, and in parallel to further advance their next generation systems. We are looking forward to the fruits of their work in clinical practice over the coming years.”