The colectomy-focused robotic surgical device developer has now assembled $51.7m having spun out from University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2006.

Virtual Incision, a US-based robotic surgery device developer spun out of University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has received $20m in a series B-plus round led by venture capital firm Bluestem Capital. VC firms PrairieGold Venture Partners and Genesis Innovation Group joined unspecified “affiliated” investors in the round, which incorporates $1m in debt from Bluestem and Prairie disclosed in August 2019, according to Silicon Prairie News. Virtual Incision has devised a robotically-assisted device for carrying out minimally-invasive colectomies to treat severe complications in the gastrointestinal tract. The device, branded Mira Surgical Robotic Platform, weighs just two pounds and is inserted into the patient’s abdomen via a single umbilical incision. Virtual Incision expects the small form factor to enable portability across different operating theatres without the need for dedicated space. Proceeds from the round will drive regulatory and clinical work on the device, which has a pending submission with US healthcare regulator Food and Drug Administration for investigational device exemption status. The designation would allow Virtual Incision to commence a clinical study of its device in colon resection surgery, with a view to securing regulatory approval. Virtual Incision’s portfolio also includes miniaturised surgical devices for hernia repair and gallbladder removal. The co-founders include its chief medical officer Dmitry Oleynikov, chief for gastrointestinal, minimally-invasive and bariatric surgery at the school of medicine at University of Nebraska Medical Center. Virtual Incision last raised $18m of series B funding in 2017 from investors co-led by Bluestem and SinoPharm Capital, the investment arm of pharmaceutical firm SinoPharm, with participation from PrairieGold and undisclosed additional investors. PrairieGold backed a $11.2m funding round led by Bluestem in 2015 together with unnamed existing investors, after both PrairieGold and BlueStem had co-led a $2m series A round for Virtual Incision in 2010. Virtual Incision started out with $535,000 of a targeted $1m equity round from undisclosed investors in 2006, according to a regulatory filing.

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