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 $1.1 billion purchase of Corindus Vascular Robotics, which was first announced in August. The company’s shareholders approved the acquisition last week. Here are surgical robotics transactions so far this year, where figures were available:
Surgical robotics transactions, 2019 to date
| Company | Amt. (M$) | Type | Investor, partner, acquirer | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medtronic | 5000 | tender offer | 7/11/2019 | |
| Auris Health Inc. | 3400 | acquisition | Johnson & Johnson | 2/13/2019 |
| Intuitive Surgical Inc. | 2000 | stock repurchase | 2/1/2019 | |
| Corindus Vascular Robotics | 1100 | acquisition | Siemens Medical Solutions | 8/8/2019 |
| Verily | 1000 | investment | Silver Lake | 1/3/2019 |
| Osiris Therapeutics | 660 | acquisition | Smith & Nephew | 3/12/2019 |
| Mobius Imaging, Cardan Robotics | 500 | acquisition | Stryker Corp. | 9/4/2019 |
| CMR Surgical Ltd. | 243 | Series C | LGT, Escala Capital Investments, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Watrium, Zhejiang Silk Road Fund | 9/17/2019 |
| OrthoSpace Ltd. | 220 | acquisition | Stryker Corp. | 3/14/2019 |
| Think Surgical | 134 | investment | 3/11/2019 | |
| Neocis | 30 | investment | Norwest Venture Partners | 7/16/2019 |
| Keranova SA | 26.56 | investment | Mérieux Equity Partners, Supernova Invest | 9/11/2019 |
| Titan Medical Inc. | 25 | IPO | 3/22/2019 | |
| Titan Medical Inc. | 25 | stock sale | 10/25/2019 | |
| StelKast Inc. | 24.1 | acquisition | Globus Medical Inc. | 9/19/2019 |
| Restoration Robotics Inc. | 21 | acquisition | Venus Concept Ltd. | 3/15/2019 |
| TransEnterix Surgical Inc. | 20.3 | stock offering | 9/5/2019 | |
| Corindus Vascular Robotics Inc. | 15 | stock offering | 2/26/2019 | |
| Activ Surgical | 13 | investment | 7/5/2019 | |
| Virtual Incision Corp. | 10 | securities sale | 10/30/2019 | |
| Vicarious Surgical Inc. | 10 | equity sale | Gates Frontier | 1/31/2019 |
| Grand Venture Technology Ltd. | 9.74 | IPO | Sunshine Power | 1/16/2019 |
| Robocath Inc. | 5.51 | investment | Go Capital NCI | 9/3/2019 |
| Rob Surgical | 5.5 | investment | Scranton Enterprises | 9/25/2019 |
| Corindus Vascular Robotics | 4.8 | private placement | 3/12/2019 | |
| iotaMotion Inc. | 2.52 | seed | 8/28/2018 | |
| Tamar Robotics Ltd. | 2.25 | investment | Mivtach Shamir Holdings Ltd. | 9/7/2019 |
| Virtual Incision Corp. | 1 | debt financing | Bluestem Capital Co., Prairie Gold | 7/3/2019 |
| C2 Medical Robotics Inc. | 0.02 | investment | Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund | 6/5/2019 |
| AiM Medical Robotics Inc. | 0/2 | equity sale | 10/3/2019 | |
| OMNI Orthopaedics Inc. | acquisition | Corin Group | 3/6/3019 | |
| Schölly Fiberoptic | acquisition | Intuitive Surgical | 7/15/2019 | |
| Atracys | acquisition | Smith & Nephew | 7/1/2019 | |
| Fusion Robotics | investment | Lukpartners LLC | 6/25/2019 | |
| Medineering | acquisition | Brainlab | 3/20/2019 | |
| Brainlab | acquisition | Smith & Nephew | 3/12/2019 | |
| Beijing Surgerii Technology | Series A | Shunwei Capital | 2/27/2019 |
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