Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.-based Cobionix has closed a $3-million USD ($4.1-million CAD) strategic funding round to put its collaborative medical robot on the market.
The all-equity round was led by TitletownTech, a Wisconsin-based venture capital firm backed by Microsoft and the Green Bay Packers NFL team, with participation from Lions Investment, Dr. Paul McBeth, and other undisclosed investors, including returning investors from a $2.2 million USD round in May 2023. Cobionix described McBeth, a clinical associate professor in the departments of surgery and critical care medicine at the University of Calgary, as a prominent leader in the medical robotics field.
Cobionix looks to expand CODI’s capabilities to support logistical tasks within hospitals in the coming months.
The funding will support ongoing pilot programs for CODI, Cobionix’s robotic platform designed to deliver help diagnostic ultrasound procedures, which will bring it “from bench to bedside” this August and help launch in the United States (US) sometime in 2026. Cobionix said it has research and pilot projects underway in Canada, the US, and the United Kingdom (UK), including partnerships with the Saskatchewan Health Authority and the UK’s National Health Service.
TitletownTech is providing more than just financial support, Cobionix CEO Matthew Sefati told BetaKit in an email statement. It’s connecting the company with healthcare providers like prominent Wisconsin-based clinic chain Prevea Health as well as manufacturing networks across the American Midwest.
“With an increasing need for highly skilled medical care in our country, especially in our rural communities, we need to leverage unique technological advances to stretch our highly skilled workforce,” Prevea Health president and CEO Dr. Ashok Rai said in a statement. “CODI does just that, by allowing ultrasound technologists to perform ultrasounds remotely with the same level of expertise and hands-on care as if the patient was right in front of them.”
Founded by University of Waterloo engineering alumni Nima Zamani, Tim Lasswell, and John Van Leeuwen in 2021, Cobionix claims its robot’s design allows for rapid switching between various clinical tasks through simple tool changes and over-the-air software updates. The firm said it previously created an autonomous robot capable of performing an intramuscular injection for vaccine administration.
Sefati said that Cobionix will expand CODI’s capabilities to support logistical tasks within hospitals, such as inventory replenishment and prescription deliveries, in the coming months.
Cobionix business director Dan Vu told BetaKit at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that the company has drawn heavily on graduates from the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo to support plans to bring its tech to market within three years.
Kitchener-Waterloo is a key hub for Canadian robotics, home to companies like AvidBots and the now-acquired Clearpath Robotics. Cinema tech startup Axibo raised $12 million CAD to kickstart its own humanoid robot division earlier this year, with plans to move its office closer to the University of Waterloo to attract the school’s engineering talent.
Canada’s robotics sector has seen mixed results lately, however, as Calgary-based robotics startup Attabotics closed its doors last week after investors declined to provide fresh capital due to concern over the company’s cash flow challenges.
Feature image courtesy Cobionix.