Shanghai, China-based Ronovo closed a funding round in February, also unveiling its Carina surgical robotic platform. The $26 million in the latest round brings the company’s total fundraising to more than $76 million since 2020.
Carina, a modular system built on proprietary technology, enables configurable robotic assistance for laparoscopic surgeries across multiple specialties. Ronovo developed Carina in collaboration with renowned Chinese laparoscopic surgeons. It addresses numerous pain points in minimally invasive surgeries.
The company says it provides surgeons with the flexibility to choose the best instruments and the most ideal anatomical access. As such, surgeons can leverage prior laparoscopic training and improve upon their surgical performance. Carina minimizes equipment footprint to maximize the utilization of operating room space. Surgical teams can choose between three-module or four-module configurations, Ronovo said. Surgeons also have a full suite of instruments from which to choose with Carina.
What Ronovo expects do do with the funds
NRL Capital led the financing. New investor Kington Kapital, along with all existing shareholders, joined in as well. Participants include Lilly Asia Venture, Vivo Capital, Matrix Partners China, GGV Capital and LongRiver Investments.
Ronovo says it expects the capital to help accelerate commercialization efforts for Carina in China and beyond. Dr. Ying Mao, co-founder, CTO and COO, said the company stands “at the cusp” of multi-specialty human clinical trials.
“We are grateful for the trust and support from NRL Capital and all other investors, especially as 2023 is a critical year for accelerating our commercialization efforts for Carina, the first modular robotic platform for laparoscopy in China,” said Dr. John Ma, founder, chair and CEO of Ronovo. “With a global vision in mind, we firmly believe that the Carina system’s core differentiations in modularity, configurability and compatibility translate to meaningful clinical and economic values for surgeons and patients around the world.”
