Chinese robotic surgery start-up Ronovo Surgical has emerged from stealth mode having recently closed a new financing round to advance its robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) technology.
The Shanghai-based firm has raised more than $50m since 2020, including the latest funding round.
LongRiver Investments (LRI) led the latest financing round. The start-up’s existing investors Lilly Asia Ventures, Matrix Partners China, Vivo Capital, and GGV Capital also took part in the round.
CEC Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor for Ronovo Surgical, which has also unveiled its maiden robotic platform dubbed Carina.
The robotic platform is said to be a modular system built on the company’s proprietary technology to facilitate configurable robotic assistance for laparoscopic surgeries across various specialties.
LongRiver Investments founder and CEO Jiang Zhang said: “We are proud to have led this round of financing in Ronovo and its innovative modular robotic platform, which will be first-to-market in China.
“We are incredibly excited to partner with Ronovo to accelerate their product and clinical development, and we strongly believe in the clinical and commercial value of a modular robotic system as well as its viability for international adoption.”
According to Ronovo Surgical, the proceeds from the financing round will be used to expedite the multi-discipline clinical trial for the Carina robotic platform.
The start-up will also use the funds to improve research and development (R&D) and clinical applications development as well as strengthen its workforce.
Carina, which is said to have been developed in collaboration with Chinese laparoscopic surgeons, is designed to address various pain points in minimally invasive surgeries (MIS).
It also offers the flexibility to surgeons to select the most suitable instruments and ideal anatomical access based on laparoscopy foundation. This helps surgeons to leverage prior laparoscopic training and improve upon their surgical performance to robotically carry out minimally invasive surgeries in more surgical specialties.
Ronovo Surgical founder, chairman, and CEO John Ma said: “We are extremely grateful to our investors for their confidence in Ronovo’s strategy to democratise robotic surgery.
“From inception, we have stayed true to our belief that innovation must start from an original pursuit to solve actual unmet clinical needs.”
The robotic firm said that the modular architecture of the Carina platform minimises equipment footprint to maximise usage of operating room space.
Based on the expected complexity of the surgery, the surgical team can opt between three-module or four-module configurations, said the Chinese firm.
