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Medical-Robotics Startup Mendaera Nabs $73 Million Series B
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By Brian Gormley, WSJ Pro
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Good day. Startup Mendaera has secured $73 million in new venture capital to use robotics in biopsies and other common medical procedures, another sign of investor interest in applying the technology more widely in healthcare.
San Mateo, Calif.-based Mendaera formed in 2020 and last year closed a $24 million Series A financing, led by Lux Capital, before closing the new Series B round led by Threshold Ventures. The company has developed a robotic system designed to be combined with ultrasound to make needle-based and other medical procedures more precise.
Declining costs of hardware and advances in artificial intelligence are spurring innovation in robotics and interest in the field from entrepreneurs and venture investors. Robotics promises to enable more consistently high-quality results in medical procedures, proponents say.
Last year, U.S., European and Israeli medical-robotics companies raised $767 million in venture capital, up from $748 million in 2022, according to an analysis by venture investor F-Prime Capital.
Investment in medical robotics last year ranked second among eight sectors F-Prime analyzed, trailing the more than $1.06 billion deployed in startups applying robotics to logistics. One draw for medical robotics is venture capitalists’ past success in this field, said Sanjay Aggarwal, a venture partner with F-Prime.
“It’s been a very fruitful place for venture investment in terms of building big, successful businesses,” he added.
Read the full story here.
And now on to the news...
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The Charles River near the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., where many biotech companies are based. PHOTO: CHARLES KRUPA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Biotech mega-rounds. Venture mega-rounds are increasing in biotechnology as the outlook for the industry brightens, WSJ Pro reports.
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Sixty-eight U.S. and European biotech startups raised venture financings of $100 million or more this year through Aug. 31, putting this year on track to at least approach the 106 mega-rounds closed in 2021, the highest number on record, according to Silicon Valley Bank.
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Venture capitalists are increasingly confident that biotech is stabilizing after two years in which valuations reset lower from their 2021 highs. Mega-rounds also reflect a flight to quality, as investors crowd around what they view as the strongest companies, some observers said.
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Giant financings help startups propel medicines through clinical trials and buffer them against setbacks. And they reduce one of the biggest risks in biotech: that a company will run out of money before its drug shows potential. Mega-deals also can lead to trouble if a startup is undisciplined in deploying the capital.
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68
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The number of biotechnology venture financings of $100 million or more in the U.S. and Europe this year as of Aug. 31, according to Silicon Valley Bank.
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Doctors Organize to Push Back Against Private-Equity Takeovers
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Private equity’s takeover of thousands of healthcare businesses has sparked a backlash among physicians, and many are joining new professional organizations to oppose corporate influence in U.S. medicine, WSJ Pro reports. Several of these groups are working with lawmakers to craft legislation to limit private equity’s influence in healthcare. Others aim to educate peers about private equity’s impact on their profession.
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These groups underscore a potential problem facing private-equity investors in the medical sector. Many doctors hold strikingly negative views of buyout firms and, increasingly, are taking political action against them.
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OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati was a key player in Sam Altman’s brief ouster as CEO last year. PHOTO: NIKKI RITCHER FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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OpenAI to become for-profit company. OpenAI is planning to convert from a nonprofit organization to a for-profit company at the same time it is undergoing major personnel shifts including the abrupt resignation Wednesday of its chief technology officer, Mira Murati, WSJ reports. Becoming a for-profit would be a seismic shift for OpenAI, which was founded in 2015 to develop AI technology “to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return,” according to a statement it published when it launched.
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People
TapestryHealth, a provider of healthcare services for post-acute communities, appointed Craig Anderson as the company’s new chief executive officer. He previously held various leadership roles at UnitedHealthcare.
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Zing Health, a Chicago-based health insurance provider focused on the needs of underserved seniors with chronic conditions, scored a $140 million investment from Newlight Partners and others.
Centivo, a Buffalo, N.Y.-headquartered health plan provider, secured $75 million in equity and debt funding from investors including F-Prime Capital and MemorialCare Innovation Fund.
Helaina, a New York-based developer of human equivalent bioactive proteins for nutrition and health, raised $45 million in Series B funding led by Avidity Partners.
FluidLogic, an El Segundo, Calif.-based hydration system provider, landed $15 million in Series A extension financing led by Solyco Capital.
AminoChain, a New York-based startup powering the handling of biosamples by connecting data across healthcare companies, was seeded with a $5 million investment led by a16z crypto.
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Bob Duggan’s latest investment has become one of the biotech industry’s greatest bets in recent years. PHOTO: SHELLEY D. SPRAY
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