FlexDex Surgical has landed $5 million of investment from a Series B round. It plans to use the capital to turn its laparoscopic surgery tool into the go-to instrument for doctors everywhere.
The Brighton-based's principal product is the FlexDex Needle Driver, a minimally invasive surgical instrument that can be used during laparoscopic surgery. The first generation of the product proved it’s effectiveness. The Series B money will be used to develop the second generation iteration of the tool, which will be a more commercially viable product.
"The (first generation) product is used and then disposed of," says Tom Davidson, chairman & CEO of
FlexDex. "The second generation device will have have a disposable shaft but the handle, which has all of the mechanicals in it, will be reusable."
FlexDex was developed at the University of Michigan by co-founders Shorya Awtar, Sc.D., James Geiger, MD and Greg Bowles over the last decade. The idea was to make laparoscopic surgery easier for everyone involved.
Laparoscopic Surgery is the minimally invasive approach to abdominal surgery during which the abdomen is inflated with gas to create an operating space. Small incisions are made to accommodate an endoscope for visualization and long narrow surgical instruments. The FlexDex platform technology enables highly intuitive, one-to-one mapping of the surgeons arm and hand motions to the articulating instrument inside the patient’s body.
FlexDex Surgical raised a $2.3 million Series A at the end of 2014. Since then it has built out its staff to a dozen people, oncluding hiring four people in director and engineering positions. It’s looking to hire two more mechanical engineers right now as it works to launch the second generation of the FlexDex Needle Driver.
"Our goal is to be a product development powerhouse," Davidson says. "That's why we're hiring so many engineers."
Source: Tom Davidson, chairman & CEO of FlexDex
Writer: Jon Zemke
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