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The Maestro surgical robot. | Source: Moon Surgical

Moon Surgical announced today that it raised $55.4 million and appointed a surgical robotics veteran as the chair of its board.

The French-American company develops the Maestro system to support surgeons in soft tissue surgical procedures. The platform acts as a robotic surgical assistant to augment the precision and control of laparoscopic surgery.

Moon Surgical’s small, adaptable system can integrate into existing clinical workflows. It features capabilities that bolster operating room efficiency and allows for alternative labor models.

The company earmarked its latest fundraising to support the continued development and planned commercialization of Maestro. Moon Surgical received FDA 510(k) clearance for Maestro in December 2022, followed by CE mark last month. In June 2022, Moon Surgical completed a $31.3 million Series A fundraising.

Sofinnova Partners co-led the latest funding round along with Nvidia’s NVentures venture capital arm. Dr. Fred Moll and Dr. Josh Makower participated, too. Existing investors, GT Healthcare Capital, Cathay Health, Johnson & Johnson Innovation — JJDC and Sofinnova Partners’ MD Start all joined. So, too, did Yann Fleureau, Siddarth Satish, Sacha Loiseau and Richard Leparmentier.

“Not even a year after the last one, this new financing is extremely exciting for us, as it will enable us to focus on the upcoming commercial launch of our Maestro System,” stated Anne Osdoit, CEO of Moon Surgical and a partner in Sofinnova Partners’ MedTech accelerator, MD Start. “The support of Sofinnova Partners, NVIDIA, Fred Moll, Josh Makower, and our existing investor base is further validation of the mission of Moon Surgical and the achievements of our team.”

Big name in surgical robotics to chair the Moon Surgical board

With the funding, Moon Surgical announced the appointment of Moll as an independent chair of the board. Gérard Hascoët remains a Board Director.

“Surgery by its nature involves more than two hands,” said Moll. “With Maestro, the surgeon can fully control the tasks that would otherwise be done by an assistant but in a much more fluid and more convenient way. It’s a capability that has not been developed before in robotic surgery and delivers value in any operating room where laparoscopy is performed.”

Antoine Papiernik, chair of Sofinnova Partners, also joins the Moon Surgical board of directors. Nvidia’s Mohamed Siddeek and Cathay Health’s Dr. Steve Oesterle also join as board observers. Siddeek said Nvidia is confident in Moon Surgical’s capabilities to “deliver a unique and innovative solution to the market.”

“Sofinnova Partners has always supported ambitious, world-leading, category-creating companies which deliver on the promise of their unique technology. Moon Surgical is a prime example,” said Papiernik. “We believe in this team’s capacity to bring Maestro to the market and revolutionize the surgical robotics landscape by combining their experience and insights in the needs of the surgeon, patient, and provider.”