- Successful fundraising led by Pembroke VCT and Downing Healthcare Ventures
- Proceeds will enable the Company to rapidly scale-up the commercial roll-out of its 3D AI surgical maps product and continue to advance its plans to create value across its innovative cloud-based technology platform
- Andrew Wolfson and Dr Nigel Pitchford appointed as Non-Executive Directors
CAMBRIDGE, UNITED KINGDOM, 13 FEBRUARY 2023 – Cydar Medical (“Cydar” or “the Company”) a global, cloud-based surgical software company, announces it has successfully completed a $11.5 million (£9.3 million) Series A funding round including a $3.7 million (£3 million) cornerstone investment by Pembroke Venture Capital Trust (“VCT”). Proceeds will enable the Company to advance its pioneering artificial intelligence (“AI”) surgical maps platform and also bolster the Company’s ongoing commercial expansion.
Founded in 2012, Cydar Medical uses cutting-edge AI technology to transform the way information is provided to clinicians undertaking image-guided minimally invasive surgery (“MIS”) simplifying complexities within operating theatres. The Company’s first product, Cydar Maps, is being used at leading hospitals across the globe to optimise endovascular MIS procedures. The product creates a patient specific 3D map of soft tissue, providing an integrated solution for procedure planning, intra-operative navigation and post-procedure review. The AI and automation of processes within the novel software have been shown to increase clinician confidence and reduce procedure times, reduce radiation exposure for patients and the clinical team and improve clinical workflow efficiencies1-3. As the AI learns from surgical procedures it can help better inform clinical decision-making and future care. Cydar Maps is a certified Software-as-a-Medical Device (with an EU/UK CE mark and US Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) 510(k) clearance) and is generating growing revenues for the Company.
This Series A funding round will support the expansion of the Company’s Operations, Science and Development, Business Development and Customer Onboarding & Service teams. These expanded capabilities will support the successful execution of the key strategic collaborations announced by the Company last year with leading industry players, including Medtronic Vascular Inc. and BrainLab AG. The proceeds will also enable the ongoing development of Cydar Maps. That includes the planned release of the first version of Cydar Intelligent Maps in H1 2023, which will enable clinicians planning their MIS (minimally invasive surgery) cases to compare patient anatomy with prior cases undertaken globally and will, over time, provide predictive procedure planning capabilities. The goal is to allow patients, regardless of geographical location, to benefit from access to the experience of the world’s leading clinicians globally. The Company also plans to release a generally applicable Cydar Maps product offering a solution for MIS procedures beyond the current endovascular indication.
The Series A financing was led by Pembroke VCT, managed by Pembroke Investment Managers LLP, who focus on growth stage companies across a range of sectors. Pembroke VCT were joined in the round by existing shareholders, as well as a number of new investors which included Downing LLP, through its Downing Healthcare Ventures fund, which focuses on investment in healthcare and life science companies based in the UK. As part of the funding round, Andrew Wolfson, Chief Executive Officer of Pembroke Investment Managers LLP and Dr Nigel Pitchford, Head of Healthcare Ventures at Downing LLP, have joined Cydar Medical’s Board of Directors as Non-Executive Directors. They each bring over 25 years of experience in supporting the successful growth of portfolio companies through venture capital funding. Dr Pitchford has also focused specifically on healthcare ventures at a range of firms including Imperial Innovations, 3i Group and DFJ Esprit.
Paul Mussenden, Chief Executive Officer of Cydar Medical commented:
“We are pleased to have closed this Series A funding round backed by Pembroke VCT and Downing Healthcare Ventures EIS. We are also appreciative of the significant continued support from our existing shareholders and warmly welcome our new investors on Cydar Medical’s exciting journey. We are focused on improving patient outcomes by providing an integrated solution of pre-operative planning, intra-operative navigation and post-operative review for a range of procedures, using the power of AI to better inform care decisions. This latest funding round will enable us to accelerate our vision of using AI to bring novel integrated solutions to every step of the patient journey in image guided MIS. Feedback from our clinicians illustrates that these capabilities increase their confidence at every stage of the patient pathway.
“Over the past year we have made excellent operational progress having released significant new product functionality, enrolled the first patients in the ARIA4 randomised controlled clinical study to demonstrate the clinical and cost effectiveness benefits of the use of Cydar Maps and agreed the installation of the product at over 50 new centres across the UK, US and EU, in part supported by establishing a number of important collaborations with world leading industry players. Cydar Medical is at a key inflection point and we are working to leverage our novel world-class platform and capabilities to rapidly scale our intelligent surgical maps offering through increasing the number of end-users and launching additional value-add capabilities on the platform. We look forward to executing on our strategy and progressing towards our vision of using Cydar’s technology platform to create an ecosystem of products, tools and services to improve delivery of healthcare to enable a world where all surgery conducted works exactly as planned.”