The Bothell, Washington-based startup was a member of the 2024 Medtech Innovator cohort. It now says it has 10 employees and has raised more than $8 million in total.
“Our outstanding team is energized and now capitalized to move quickly through the regulatory process to deliver reliable, remote robotic ultrasound to patients who today must often travel hours to receive essential care,” Dopl Technologies co-founder and CEO Ryan James said in a statement shared with MassDevice ahead of the official announcement. “This is a critical step toward providing specialty care, anywhere, through telerobotic and autonomous care delivery, bridging the healthcare divide that affects tens of millions of people in the United States alone.”
James, a former Nvidia medical AI engineer, founded the company with Chief Operating Officer Dr. Steve Seslar (a pediatric cardiologist and pediatric electrophysiologist) and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Wayne Monsky (an interventional radiologist).
“We’re very close to design freeze,” he said. “We’re looking at that in the next few months and then we’ll proceed to all of the regulatory activities, verification and validation, etc. … We’ve had multiple conversations with the FDA validating our path forward.”
The company estimates more than 50 million people in the U.S. could benefit from better access to ultrasounds and sees a a $40 billion annual reimbursement opportunity for U.S. hospitals as telerobotic imaging scales nationally.
Dopl’s product portfolio includes the Traverse remote robotic ultrasound system, Dopl Connect secure connectivity and data platform, and SonoFlex, a distributed clinical workforce and workflow management solution.
Together, the company’s platform will let sonographers remotely perform diagnostic ultrasound exams on patients. The company says its platform is hardware-agnostic and uses off-the-shelf robots, ultrasound systems, haptic controllers, and cameras “for rapid deployment across existing hospital infrastructure.”
Dopl said the funding will support its product verification and validation, FDA 510(k) submission and clearance, clinical evaluation, and initial market release.
Dopl already sends traveling sonographers to hospitals through its CareBridge service “to temporarily address patient needs while pursuing FDA clearance, build partner relationships, and provide Dopl with direct insights from patients and providers.”
Dopl said CareBridge has reduced wait times by up to 90%, and those hospital systems will pilot a transition to Dopl’s telerobotic ecosystem upon FDA clearance.
SpringTide Ventures led the seed round with participation from WRF Capital, Tacoma Venture Fund (the pre-seed lead), HeartX, Transform Health Ventures, Precursor Ventures, and other unidentified early-stage institutional investors.
“We’re excited to support Dopl Technologies and its unique, category-defining approach as a physical AI company. Dopl is primed to deliver a cost-efficient, revenue-generating model for health systems, enabling skilled sonographers to work from home, allowing more patients to receive care when and where they need it most,” SpringTide Ventures co-founder and Managing Partner Austin Walters said in a statement. “Dopl’s combination of proven clinical traction, innovative, integrated technologies, and an experienced team positions it to lead the coming wave of robotic care delivery, and we believe it will democratize how and where imaging is available.”
The 2026 MDO Medtech Startups Special Report: Technical tips and actionable advice for device startups
