Medtech funding has been one of the fastest growing areas of CVC, and here are some of its brightest startups, from brain surgery microbots to holographic surgery technology.
Medical devices have been one of the fastest growing areas of the startup ecosystem in the past year, buoyed by recent advances in artificial intelligence and robotics technology as well as university research. And corporates are getting involved.
Here are 11 of the most exciting up-and-coming medical device startups from around the world, from an ultrasound device that helps Alzheimer’s patients restore brain function to an AI sperm selection system for fertility treatment.
Grey Matter Neurosciences
Toronto, Canada
Founded: 2024
Funding to date: $9.7m
One of the newer medtech startups on the block, Grey Matter Neurosciences is using focused ultrasound technology to help Alzheimer’s disease patients restore brain function through neural stimulation.
Grey Matter has built a helmet based on technology developed at Sunnybrook Research Institute that can stimulate any area of the brain with precision. It doesn’t rely on external image guidance, which means it can be used outside hospitals.
The Canada-based startup emerged from stealth last month having secured $9.7m in a seed round led by Wittington Innovation Fund and backed by Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners, Ontario Brain Institute and Ontario’s Life Sciences Innovation Fund. The cash will fund further development of the headset along with clinical trials.
NanoSyrinx
Coventry, UK
Founded: 2020
Funding: $21.5m
Many modern drugs are molecular therapeutics that need access to the interiors of cells, but actually getting them there has been difficult.
A Warwick University spinout called NanoSyrinx has created a nanosyringe to overcome the problem. Its technology can deliver therapeutic proteins and peptides directly to targeted cells, using an approach based on bacterial injection systems in nature.
Merck Group’s M Ventures unit has been a NanoSyrinx backer from pre-seed stage, and it co-led a $13m series A round in September last year with BGF and Octopus Ventures, investing alongside fellow pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly as well as IQ Capital and Meltwind.
Convergence Medical Robotics
Brisbane, Australia
Founded: 2022
Funding: $3.1m+
Arthroscopic surgery – also known as keyhole surgery – is used to treat more than 50 million joint injuries in areas like wrists, shoulders, hips and the spine each year, and Australia’s Convergence Medical Robotics has developed a robot to reduce the burden on surgeons.
Convergence’s V01 robot can increase precision and dexterity in arthroscopic surgery and has advanced control settings that enable surgeons to continually monitor position and status. The startup is looking to break into the US and was accepted into the Food and Drug Administration’s Breakthrough Devices Program in 2023.
Convergence received early funding from angel investment network Brisbane Angels before closing a $3.1m series A round last month featuring medtech investment firm Avicella Capital that valued it at more than $18m. It is now seeking partners to help commercialise the V01 internationally.
Novocuff
Mountain View, California, USA
Founded: 2021
Funding: $28m
Novocuff is the creator of a medical device that supports and closes the cervix during pregnancy to combat premature rupturing of membranes in mothers during the prebirth stage, so that pregnancy can be extended and premature births prevented.
The company’s direction was influenced by real-life events: co-founder Donald Lee’s twins were delivered at only 24 weeks. It cites World Health Organization statistics stating that some one million deaths were caused by preterm birth complications in 2020.
AXA’s IM Alts division led a $26m series A round for Novocuff in July last year that also featured healthcare training provider Laerdal’s Million Lives Fund and medical equipment manufacturer Laborie.
The Blue Box
Barcelona, Spain
Founded: 2021
Funding: $540,000+
Although breast cancer screening has improved over the years, bringing down deaths in the process, there’s still a lack of reliable and convenient screening methods, meaning around half of cases are only diagnosed at late stage.
A Spanish startup called The Blue Box has developed a portable system that can diagnose breast cancer from a patient’s urine, a method free of radiation or pain it claims has a success rate of almost 90%, outperforming conventional mammography approaches.
Grow Venture Partners and Unconventional Ventures provided $540,000 in seed capital for the company in July 2024, adding to non-equity financing from backers including startup accelerators MassChallenge and CancerX. It will fund clinical trials as The Blue Box seeks certification within the European Union.
Robeauté
Paris, France
Founded: 2017
Funding: $28m
Parisian startup Robeauté is on the sci-fi end of the spectrum of medical devices, with insect-sized microbots designed to assist in brain surgery, a process that right now is invasive and which has a high fatality rate.
Robeauté’s microbots could potentially deliver molecules to the brain, implant electrodes and collect data or cell samples. The technology uses fabrication and assembly processes customised for their tiny size and its bots are currently being used as a biopsy tool in animal studies.
Medical technology producer Brainlab contributed to a $28m series A round for Robeauté last month that was co-led by Plural, Cherry Ventures and Kindred Ventures. It plans to begin human trials next year.
Altavo
Dresden, Germany
Founded: 2021
Funding: $5.4m+
Germany’s Altavo is combining machine learning with sensor technology to help people who are unable to speak, allowing them to communicate in a natural-sounding voice.
The company’s technology detects and characterises silent articulation movement inside a person’s vocal tract before using deep neural networks to convert those signals into audible speech in real time. Its initial target market is patients who’ve lost their voice box through tumour surgery.
Altavo raised an undisclosed amount of seed financing in 2022 before adding $5.4m in a February 2024 series A round led by deep tech venture firm Occident with backing from the likes of Novalis Biotech, High-Tech Gründerfonds and Saxonia Systems Holding.
Heecap
Barcelona, Spain
Founded: 2021
Funding: $3m
More than half of patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) suffer from their respiratory muscles atrophying when they’re connected to mechanical ventilation systems, making it harder for them to breathe on their own and delaying their recovery.
Spain-based Heecap has created a system that synchronises with the breathing patterns of ICU patients and uses electrical stimulation to preserve their respiratory muscles. The technology has already been tested in Vall d’Hebron University Hospital and Parc Taulí University Hospital in its home country.
Heecap’s only disclosed equity funding has come through a December 2024 seed round sized at approximately $3m, featuring Nara Capital, the government-backed CDTI Innovación’s Innvierte programme and the Catalan Institute of Finance.
Medivis
New York City, New York, USA
Founded: 2016
Funding: $25m
Augmented reality (AR) may not have made the splash in entertainment many people expected a decade ago, but it has quietly been making strides in the workplace. US startup Medivis is combining it with computer vision technology and applying it to surgery.
Medivis has developed a system that can overlay an AR hologram of a patient’s anatomy onto their bodies to help surgeons plan out procedures. Its partners include several Northeastern US health systems as well as the Veterans Health Administration.
The company’s most recent financing was a $20m series A round in mid-2023 that included healthcare provider Mayo Clinic, lifting its overall funding to the $25m mark. The next iteration of its technology is set to add an ultrasound component.
StrokeDx
Culver City, California, USA
Founded: 2022
Funding: $7.7m
Some 800,000 patients suffer from strokes in the US alone each year, and early diagnosis is a crucial factor in how well they recover. StrokeDx has created a portable device that uses magnetism to detect and monitor them more quickly.
The company’s system uses technology developed at California Institute of Technology to generate small magnetic fields that enable its sensors to detect where there is too much or too little blood movement in the brain. Early studies show detection is possible in as little as a minute, but StrokeDx plans to use AI to cut that time down further.
Digital health-focused VC firm DigiTx Partners led the company’s $5m seed prime round in May 2024, participating alongside Freeflow Ventures and unnamed existing investors. Including grants, StrokeDx’s total financing stands at nearly $10m.
3Aware
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Founded: 2022
Funding: $2.4m
Medical device technology isn’t just about creating the systems and bringing them to market. There’s also the matter of making sure they keep working well once they’re in hospitals and clinics.
3Aware is looking to address compliance and maintenance issues for medical devices with a software platform that uses real-world patient health data and AI to monitor devices in real time. The system makes sure devices are working correctly and up to date with any regulatory changes that came in after they were brought to market.
The Indianapolis-based startup has not revealed details of its investor base but a securities filing from January last year indicates it has raised $2.4m in seed financing. Its software has already been integrated with corporate partner Mayo Clinic’s clinical data.
