SoftBank Ventures Korea, the global early-stage venture capital arm of SoftBank Group, has co-led the $20-million Series C funding round in Silicon Valley-based AI healthcare technology firm Gauss Surgical.
Also co-leading the round is Northwell Health, with LS Polaris Innovation Fund and seven other leading US health systems chipping in.
The proceeds of the round will be used to accelerate the adoption of its Triton platform in hospitals and to develop new AI-driven applications for the operating room.
The company’s flagship product, Triton, monitors surgical blood loss in real time using digital imaging and machine learning on the iPad.
It has received de novo approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a European CE mark. It is in increasingly widespread use in hospitals across the United States; so far, Triton has been adopted by 50 hospitals which perform more than 200,000 infant deliveries each year.
Over the last 15 years, preventable maternal deaths and harmful postpartum health complications for mothers have increased precipitously in the U.S. due to undetected hemorrhaging, particularly in cesarean deliveries.
According to a recent study of 2,781 caesarean section patients published in the American Journal of Perinatology, implementing Triton was associated with significant increases in recognition of maternal hemorrhage and significant decreases in blood product transfusions and hospital length of stay.
“The practical application of AI in hospitals will be a major growth driver in the medical technology industry, especially in addressing high-cost, high-impact unmet clinical needs,” said Siddarth Satish, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Gauss. “We are pleased to be strategically aligned with investors who bring significant operational experience both in AI-enabled services and in healthcare as we scale our platform.”
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The investors contributing to the Series C funding include the LS Polaris Innovation Fund of Polaris Partners, a Boston-based venture capital firm with more than $4.3 billion under management. It also includes the strategic venture arms of several leading healthcare systems including UNC/REX Healthcare, OSF Healthcare, Providence Healthcare, Orlando Health, Spectrum Health, Mount Sinai Health System, and the Memorial Hermann Health System.
“As a leader in the AI-driven healthcare technology field, Gauss is profoundly altering the delivery model for medical devices and services in hospitals. We are excited to back the company and its founder’s vision to fundamentally transform the way operating and delivery rooms work,” said J.P. Lee, CEO and managing director of SoftBank Ventures Korea. – AsiaPEVC.com
