Vitestro secures $22 million for autonomous device that draws blood – Robotics & Automation News
Vitestro, an autonomous blood drawing company, has raised $22 million (€20 million) funding to accelerate commercialization of its innovative robotic blood drawing device. This brings its total funding raised to $50 million (€46 million) from both equity investments and grant funding.
Co-led by return investor Sonder Capital and new investor NYBC Ventures, with participation from Invest-NL, the European Innovation Council Fund (EIC Fund), and existing private investors, the oversubscribed funding round will support Vitestro’s commercialization in Europe and its organizational expansion into the US market.
Toon Overbeeke, Vitestro CEO and co-founder, says: “We are honored to continue working with Sonder Capital and proud to welcome NYBC Ventures, Invest-NL, and EIC Fund to the Vitestro team.
“Early feedback from hospitals, staff and patients has been overwhelmingly positive, and we are eager to quickly expand our reach and impact globally.”
Through a combination of artificial intelligence (AI), advanced imaging technology, and robotics, Vitestro enables hospitals and labs to provide accurate and autonomous blood draws, reducing the need for manual handling and improving patient and clinician satisfaction.
Dr Fred Moll, managing partner at Sonder Capital and the co-founder of Intuitive Surgical, the company behind the da Vinci surgical system, says: “Vitestro’s revolutionary device is perfectly positioned to improve patient care and streamline operations for a medical laboratory market in crisis.
“As turnover and departures accelerate, staff are overwhelmed and labs are challenged to deliver timely test results and satisfactory care. We are excited by Vitestro’s progress and believe they will modernize the blood draw experience.”
Multiple Vitestro devices have already been pre-ordered and are scheduled to be deployed at several European hospitals starting at the end of this year to help ease workload and provide a more consistent, improved patient experience.
Vitestro is also currently leading the ADOPT trial, the world’s largest evaluation of autonomous blood drawing devices.
Vitestro plans to use the most recent funding to expand the team to meet the growing demand for its innovative robotic blood drawing device and develop additional product features.
Vitestro is on track to obtain CE approval for its device by the end of 2024, with deployment efforts expected to begin in that same timeframe.
Brian Joseph, commercial director and co-founder at Vitestro, says: “Our technology represents a major step forward in healthcare innovation, benefitting both the institution and the patient.
“We are actively expanding operations to grow in other important international markets, particularly within the United States.”
