Cambridge Innovation Capital has returned a second time to back a $240m series C for CMR Surgical, helping bring the surgical robotics company's total funding to $386m.
CMR Surgical, a UK-based surgical robotics developer raised £195m ($240m) in series C funding yesterday from investors including Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), the patient capital fund affiliated with University of Cambridge.
Asset management group LGT, investment firm Watrium, private equity fund Zhejiang Silk Road Fund and Escala Capital also contributed to the round, together with unnamed US-based investors. The round valued CMR at more than $1.2bn, according to the Financial Times.
Founded in 2014, CMR has created a robotics system designed to conduct minimal access surgery, utilises high-definition 3D video and individually cart-mounted arms to help surgeons work in parts they otherwise find it difficult to reach.
The round comes after CMR obtained CE marking for its Versius system in March this year, a certification that indicates conformity with the EU’s with health, safety and environmental protection standards. It performed 30 first-in-human procedures in May during a clinical trial that is still ongoing.
The company has now received $386m in equity financing altogether, closing a $46m series A round featuring CIC as well as power and automation technology producer ABB subsidiary ABB Technology Ventures, Watrium, Escala Capital and LGT in 2017.
CIC, Watrium, LGT and Zhejiang Silk Road Fund subsequently provided $100m in series B funding for CMR in June 2018.
Martin Frost, chief executive of CMR Surgical, said: “We are delighted with the level of interest and support we have received from both new and existing investors.
“This is a really exciting time for CMR, having already completed a series of surgical procedures using Versius in a clinical trial, and we are on the verge of the commercial launch of the Versius system. We are strongly positioned to transform the global market of minimal access surgery, making it more accessible and affordable.”
– A version of this story first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing. Feature image courtesy of CMR Surgical.
