Cambridge Medical Robotics, which is developing a next-gen robotic arm for keyhole surgery, has closed a stunning Series A round at $46 million.

Business Weekly understands the startup, founded in 2014, is already plotting its Series B having had to turn investors away in the first round of financing.

CMR closed its Series A after raising a further $26m from existing investors Cambridge Innovation Capital, LGT Global Invest, Escala Capital and ABB Technology Ventures plus new investor Watrium – based in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. 

CMR raised the initial $20m first tranche in July 2016. It plans to use the Series A proceeds to progress its versatile surgical robotic system, Versius®, through ongoing validation studies and to start production of further systems. 

The Cambridge, UK company recently completed the latest set of cadaveric trials, demonstrating the ability of its Versius system to perform upper GI, gynaecological, colorectal and renal surgery.

Unique to the Versius system is a four-axis wrist joint incorporated within all the robotic arms. This compact joint mimics the dexterity of the human wrist and, unlike other robots, enables Versius to hold a surgical instrument in the same way as a surgeon. This means the system can be used across a wide range of minimal access procedures whilst retaining its remarkable compact and portable form.

The company will now progress further pre-clinical studies in support of anticipated regulatory approval and commercialisation.

CEO Martin Frost said: “Versius continues to demonstrate its leading position in this next generation of robotic surgery systems. I’m pleased to report this significant progress and thank our existing and new investors for their enthusiastic support and look forward to continuing our rapid development as we lay the foundations for producing and marketing this in-demand system.”

Global annual revenues for robot-assisted minimal access surgery are presently approximately $4 billion and anticipated to reach $20bn by 2025.