CMR Surgical, a UK-based medical device developer backed by power and automation group ABB, has closed a $100m series B round featuring Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), the patient capital fund founded by University of Cambridge.

The round also featured LGT Group, the private banking and asset management group owned by the Princely House of Liechtenstein, family-owned investment firm Watrium and the Zhejiang Silk Road Fund.

CMR has built a compact surgical robotics system called Versius for performing minimal access procedures in hospital. The system relies on a four-arm artificial wrist joint for dexterity that plugs into a range of modular instruments to conduct different medical operations.

Versius is currently undergoing preclinical trials for upper gastrointestinal, gynaecological, colorectal and renal surgery. The funding will go towards commercial scale-up, entry into international markets and validation studies in Europe and the US, as CMR Surgical drives the device closer to market.

ABB Technology Ventures, the strategic investment arm of ABB, previoulsy backed CMR Surgical’s series A round, which raised $46m across two tranches in July 2016 and September 2017 with participation from CIC, Watrium, Escala Capital and LGT.

Robert Tansley, operating partner at CIC, said: “At the point of our initial investment, [Martin Frost, CEO of CMR] and the team at CMR Surgical laid out a very clear view as to the type of surgical robot that is needed today.

“We backed their vision and now are pleased to see the progress that the company is making towards having the CMR Surgical robots available in operating theatres around the world.”

– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.

UK-based medical device developer CMR Surgical has closed a $100m series B round featuring Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), the patient capital fund founded by University of Cambridge.
The round also featured LGT Group, the private banking and asset management group owned by the Princely House of Liechtenstein, which invested together with family-owned investment firm Watrium and the Zhejiang Silk Road Fund.
CMR has built a compact surgical robotics system called Versius for performing minimal access procedures in hospital. The system relies on a four-arm artificial wrist joint for dexterity that plugs into a range of modular instruments to conduct different medical operations.
Versius is currently undergoing preclinical trials for upper gastrointestinal, gynaecological, colorectal and renal surgery. The funding will go towards commercial scale-up, entry into international markets and validation studies in Europe and the US, as CMR Surgical drives the device closer to market.
CIC had backed CMR Surgical’s series A round, which raised $46m across two tranches in July 2016 and September 2017 with participation from Watrium, Escala Capital, LGT and ABB Technology Ventures, the strategic investment arm of power and automation group ABB.
Robert Tansley, operating partner at CIC, said: “At the point of our initial investment, [Martin Frost, CEO of CMR] and the team at CMR Surgical laid out a very clear view as to the type of surgical robot that is needed today.
“We backed their vision and now are pleased to see the progress that the company is making towards having the CMR Surgical robots available in operating theatres around the world.”