Liverpool city region medical technology venture Inovus Medical, which develops training simulators for surgeons, secures £15m from multiple sources to fund a new phase of expansion. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool city region medtech venture Inovus Medical will expand further into the US and into new overseas markets after securing investment worth around £15m.
Based in St Helens, Inovus Medical was established in 2012 by surgeon Dr Elliot Street, and engineer Jordan Van Flute, who together built a prototype surgery simulator. Its technology is already in use across the NHS.
It has partnered with the Royal College of Surgeons England and the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists to deliver standardised surgical training to residents and surgeons in the UK and North America.
In a new funding round Inovus has secured $(US)20m which LBN has converted at current exchange rates. This will support continued US growth, expansion into new international markets and extension of its technology to additional surgical specialties.
Inovus provides surgeons with lifelike models of human anatomy made from advanced ‘hydrogel’ materials. Its simulators are powered by its software platform, TOTUM, which allows surgeons to track their training and receive feedback from mentors online.
Of the £15m, around £7m came from NPIF II – PXN Equity Finance, which is managed by PXN Ventures as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II.
In addition, Inovus has raised follow-on funding from the first Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund through Mercia, which has backed Inovus since 2018, and new investment from Texas-based medtech investor Unorthodox Ventures.
This round was also anchored by an almost £1m investment from the Liverpool City Region Life Science Innovation Zone.
Dr Elliot Street, chief executive of Inovus, said: “We are at an exciting inflexion point for the business having invested heavily in our operational and technology infrastructure over the last 24 months.
“We are now poised to drive commercial growth across our key territories and surgical specialities with this new investment.
“We are proud to welcome our new investors, PXN and Unorthodox Ventures, and are pleased to see the strong signalling from our existing investors Mercia and Hayfin, who continue to support the business and its mission to make surgery safer through better training.”
Inovus is working to replace what it calls outdated styles of learning, including operating room or bedside demonstrations, which it claims puts patients at greater risk.
It will use the funding to expand its commercial presence in the US general surgery surgical skills market, having already deployed its simulators across nearly 300 residency programmes.
Louise Chapman, NPIF II fund principal at PXN Ventures, added: “What Elliot and the team have built has the power to transform outcomes for patients around the world by making surgery safer through more modern and intuitive training.”