Chicago-based ExplORer Surgical, a startup focused on improving management in the operating room, announced it has secured $3 million in Series A financing.
Aphelion Capital led the round. Elliott Management, M25 Group, the University of Chicago and the Harvard Business School Angels of Chicago also participated.
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The startup’s solution focuses on boosting communication and coordination between all members of the surgical team. The technology lets individuals track activity during the procedure and later use the analytics to gain insight on OR efficiency.
In an emailed response to questions, ExplORer Surgical cofounder and CEO Jennifer Fried also noted that the company’s solution doesn’t simply sit on top of existing data.
“We take the stance that the right, accurate data isn’t being captured by existing solutions and provide a platform to capture new data,” she noted.
“ExplORer has developed an elegant, tech-enabled platform with broad applicability,” said Ned Scheetz, managing partner of Aphelion Capital, in a news release. “We are pleased to support their mission to improve quality and efficiency of the OR and interventional suites.”
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Through the funding, the startup plans to focus on increasing its presence in the market. It will also utilize the money as it hires for its sales and business development team and grows its account management and implementation teams.
The company has a Software as a Service business model, through which it charges clients an upfront implementation and customization fee. The model then moves into charging customers a monthly license fee.
ExplORer Surgical has not yet released the names of any clients, Fried said in a phone interview.
Fried and Alex Langerman, a head and neck surgeon and the company’s CMO, cofounded the company out of a research lab at the University of Chicago.
“After [Langerman] told me about workflow issues in the room where his equipment and instrumentation wasn’t correct, causing delays while his patients were open and under anesthesia, I came into the OR to observe cases and see the problem firsthand,” Fried said.
From there, the team participated in UChicago’s New Venture Challenge, in which their startup placed second. The company also received a National Science Foundation SBIR Phase 1 grant.
In conjunction with the $3 million funding announcement, ExplORer Surgical revealed four new members of its board of directors: Scheetz; Anne Sissel, vice president of Baxter Ventures; Immanuel Thangaraj, managing director at Essex Woodlands; and Kurt Azarbarzin, founder of SurgiQuest, which was acquired by CONMED.
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