LightForce Orthodontics, a provider of customised 3D printed dental tools, has secured $50m in a Series C funding round led by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins.
Existing investors including Matrix Partners, Tyche Partners, and AM Ventures also have participated in the investment round
LightForce intends to use the funding to provide training and education to orthodontists to help maximise the technology, and scale operations and go-to-market efforts.
The investment will also help orthodontic practices worldwide to combine the digital benefits from aligner therapy and quality outcomes from braces, said the company.
Kleiner Perkins partner Wen Hsieh said: “LightForce’s innovative approach to an industry that has lacked technological disruptiveness for the past 25 years is what initially attracted us to this investment opportunity.
“Having previously invested in the first digital revolution of orthodontics decades ago through Align Technology, Kleiner Perkins is excited to invest in the second wave of orthodontics digitisation through Lightforce.
“We’re excited to partner with Co-Founder-CEO Alfred Griffin and the Lightforce team to leverage the latest 3D printing technology to further enhance the doctor and patient experience with bracket-based orthodontics.”
LightForce offers 3D printing technology that enables complete and infinite personalisation to match the unique tooth morphology of each patient.
Customised 3D printing is said to provide various benefits to doctors and patients including scalable and effective treatments, patient-specific prescriptions, digitising fixed appliances.
The new funds will also help the company address the unmet needs of the modern teen market through aligner cases and allow orthodontists to make practices fully digital.
LightForce CEO and co-founder Alfred Griffin III said: “LightForce was founded to provide fully customized, USA-made treatment options for orthodontists interested in offering modern braces to their patients.
“The investment from Kleiner Perkins allows us to continue creating mass-customised braces that enable orthodontists to provide a personalized patient experience within an industry that has not evolved the use of braces in the last 25 years.
“In fact, without LightForce, patients today would likely be wearing the same sort of braces their parents did back when they were teenagers.”
