FundamentalVR raises $20m for surgical simulation

The medical simulation platform combines virtual reality and haptics through data, artificial intelligence and multimodal learning. FundamentalVR’s patented HapticVR technology mimics the physical touch of surgical actions, allowing users to experience the sights, sounds and physical sensations of real-life surgery.

Designed to be hardware-agnostic, the platform immerses users in a controlled training environment that lowers surgical risk to patients. It is deployed in over 30 countries and has replaced the need for surgeons to train on cadavers and wet labs, reducing costs and improving patient outcomes. 

The transaction was led by EQT Life Sciences investing from the LSP Health Economics Fund 2 and joined by prior investors Downing Ventures. The latest investments follow a Series A round in October 2019 and bring the company’s total funding to over $30m.

FundamentalVR’s high-fidelity simulations help life science, pharmaceutical and med-device companies deploy medical innovations in disciplines from ophthalmology to robotics, gene therapy and more. The growth investment will enable further development of HapticVR, the machine learning data insights product, and geographic expansion throughout the US.

“Our immersive environments transform surgical skills acquisition in a scalable, low-cost, multiuser way,” said co-founder and chief executive Richard Vincent. “We are excited to scale our vision of creating a medical education environment unhindered by borders.”

Medical institutions, hospitals and surgical educators can use the platform to scale professionally accredited surgical training throughout their organisations. Partnerships with hospital groups, including flagship clients and investors Mayo Clinic and Sana Kliniken, will drive further growth.

“With increasingly complex surgical procedures, it is important to provide medical professionals with new methods for surgical skills transfer and continued training and education while managing both the cost and time burden associated with these activities,” said Drew Burdon, partner at EQT Life Sciences. 

“HapticVR is a differentiated approach which has already been adopted by a number of high-quality customers, in a short period of time, demonstrating the value that this system can add today.”