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Virtual Incision raises $10M for miniaturized surgical robot

By Eugene Demaitre | October 30, 2019

Virtual Incision Corp. raised $10 million in securities sales this month, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company is working on MIRA, a minimally invasive robot-assisted surgical device.

Founded in 2006 as a spinout of the University of Nebraska, Virtual Incision has been developing MIRA, which it said uses machine learning to guide instruments for abdominal procedures that normally require large incisions, such as colon resections. MIRA stands for “Miniature In-Vivo Robotic Assistant.”

In 2016, surgeons used Virtual Incision’s technology in what it claimed was “the first use of a miniaturized robot in human surgery.”

Virtual Incision raised $10 million out of an offered $25 million, according to its SEC Form D. That includes more than $7 million in new money, $2.3 million in conversion of notes, and just under $100,000 to satisfy royalty payment obligation. The company previously announced its Series B funding of $18 million in December 2017 and $1 million in debt financing in July.

In January 2019, Virtual Incision moved to new headquarters at the Nebraska Innovation Campus. At the time, the company said it was “preparing its robot for human trials and consideration for commercial approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.”


The Robot Report is launching the Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum, which will be on Dec. 9-10 in Santa Clara, Calif. The conference and expo will focus on improving the design, development, and manufacture of next-generation healthcare robots. Learn more about the Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum, and registration is now open.


Virtual Incision joins surgical robot providers striving to make the cut

Despite the long process of development and testing, as well as getting regulatory approval, there is a lot of investor interest in surgical robotics.

‘The global market for surgical robots was worth $5.4 billion last year and will experience a compound annual growth rate of 10.1% between 2019 and 2014, according to Vynz Research. An IDC Healthcare Insights study in February predicted that spending on robotics in the Asia-Pacific region — with the notable exclusion of Japan — would surpass $7 billion by 2022.

Siemens Healthineers yesterday said it has completed its $1.1 billion purchase of Corindus Vascular Robotics, which was first announced in August. The company’s shareholders approved the acquisition last week. Here are surgical robotics transactions so far this year, where figures were available:

Surgical robotics transactions, 2019 to date

CompanyAmt. (M$)TypeInvestor, partner, acquirerDate
Medtronic5000tender offer7/11/2019
Auris Health Inc.3400acquisitionJohnson & Johnson2/13/2019
Intuitive Surgical Inc.2000stock repurchase2/1/2019
Corindus Vascular Robotics1100acquisitionSiemens Medical Solutions8/8/2019
Verily1000investmentSilver Lake1/3/2019
Osiris Therapeutics660acquisitionSmith & Nephew3/12/2019
Mobius Imaging, Cardan Robotics500acquisitionStryker Corp.9/4/2019
CMR Surgical Ltd.243Series CLGT, Escala Capital Investments, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Watrium, Zhejiang Silk Road Fund9/17/2019
OrthoSpace Ltd.220acquisitionStryker Corp.3/14/2019
Think Surgical134investment3/11/2019
Neocis30investmentNorwest Venture Partners7/16/2019
Keranova SA26.56investmentMérieux Equity Partners, Supernova Invest9/11/2019
Titan Medical Inc.25IPO3/22/2019
Titan Medical Inc.25stock sale10/25/2019
StelKast Inc.24.1acquisitionGlobus Medical Inc.9/19/2019
Restoration Robotics Inc.21acquisitionVenus Concept Ltd.3/15/2019
TransEnterix Surgical Inc.20.3stock offering9/5/2019
Corindus Vascular Robotics Inc.15stock offering2/26/2019
Activ Surgical13investment7/5/2019
Virtual Incision Corp.10securities sale10/30/2019
Vicarious Surgical Inc.10equity saleGates Frontier1/31/2019
Grand Venture Technology Ltd.9.74IPOSunshine Power1/16/2019
Robocath Inc.5.51investmentGo Capital NCI9/3/2019
Rob Surgical5.5investmentScranton Enterprises9/25/2019
Corindus Vascular Robotics4.8private placement3/12/2019
iotaMotion Inc.2.52seed8/28/2018
Tamar Robotics Ltd.2.25investmentMivtach Shamir Holdings Ltd.9/7/2019
Virtual Incision Corp.1debt financingBluestem Capital Co., Prairie Gold7/3/2019
C2 Medical Robotics Inc.0.02investmentElevate Purdue Foundry Fund6/5/2019
AiM Medical Robotics Inc.0/2equity sale10/3/2019
OMNI Orthopaedics Inc.acquisitionCorin Group3/6/3019
Schölly FiberopticacquisitionIntuitive Surgical7/15/2019
AtracysacquisitionSmith & Nephew7/1/2019
Fusion RoboticsinvestmentLukpartners LLC6/25/2019
MedineeringacquisitionBrainlab3/20/2019
BrainlabacquisitionSmith & Nephew3/12/2019
Beijing Surgerii TechnologySeries AShunwei Capital2/27/2019

About The Author

Eugene Demaitre

Eugene Demaitre is editorial director of the robotics group at WTWH Media. He was senior editor of The Robot Report from 2019 to 2020 and editorial director of Robotics 24/7 from 2020 to 2023. Prior to working at WTWH Media, Demaitre was an editor at BNA (now part of Bloomberg), Computerworld, TechTarget, and Robotics Business Review.

Demaitre has participated in robotics webcasts, podcasts, and conferences worldwide. He has a master's from the George Washington University and lives in the Boston area.

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