Endomag pulls in $10m series C

Endomag, a UK-based surgical guidance technology spinout of University College London and University of Houston, received $10m today in a series C round led by VC firm Draper Esprit.

Founded in 2007, Endomag develops surgical guidance tools for breast cancer procedures that rely on magnetic sensors to improve accuracy, efficiency, workflow and accessibility in the operating theatre.

The company’s product range includes a handheld detection device called Sentimag that can help clinicians identify sentinel lymph nodes, the medical term for the first lymph nodes through which a cancerous tumour drains.

The series C capital will support Endomag’s efforts to expand commercial activity and drive product development. Endomag currently sells products in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong as well as in markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Endomag’ overall funding now stands at more than $22m, including $3.1m obtained in a 2014 round led by Regents Park Partners II that featured UCL Business, the university’s commercialisation company, as well as New Wave Ventures.

UCL Business and New Wave had joined Sussex Place Ventures and Sarum Capital for Endomag’s $3.2m series B round in 2013, after Endomag raised $2.9m across two rounds in 2011, including $950,000 obtained from unnamed investors that November.

The remaining $1.9m was received three months previously from UCL Business, Sussex Place, Sarum Investment SICAV and Bloomsbury Bioseed Fund.

Vishal Gulati, a venture partner at Draper Esprit with responsibility for digital health, said: “We all know someone who has been affected by cancer, so having access to better cancer care benefits us all. Endomag is really kickstarting a revolution in how surgeons target the removal of tumours, something they have already demonstrated for breast cancer treatment.”