CHESHAM, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lightpoint Medical, a leader in intraoperative molecular imaging and sensing, announced today that the company has secured £5 million in equity finance to fuel the company’s commercial growth. Investors included existing and new shareholders Cambridge Capital Group, Venture Founders, Coutts Investment Club, Envestors, Fund Twenty8, SyndicateRoom, and Oxford Technology. Additionally, the company has raised more than £3 million in grant funding from the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument and Innovate UK, the UK’s Innovation Agency.
The funding will be used to commercialise the company’s robotic laparoscopic probe which is designed to detect cancer in real time during surgery. Additionally, the funding will support commercial growth of the company’s LightPath® Imaging System which has already achieved commercial sales throughout Europe.
Every year millions of patients undergo surgery for cancer and surgeons currently lack a tool to locate cancer during surgery. By providing surgeons with a tool to detect cancer in real time during surgery, Lightpoint’s products aim to improve tissue sparing and clinical outcomes in cancer surgery. The company’s laparoscopic probe will bring this capability to minimally invasive and robotic surgery.
Struan McDougall, Managing Director of Cambridge Capital Group remarked “This is an outstanding milestone for Lightpoint Medical and our investing members are delighted to be a part of the company’s journey. Cambridge Capital Group investors support the best of British hi-tech ventures across multiple sectors, and healthcare technology is a key component of our portfolio.”
James Codling, Co-Founder and Managing Director of VentureFounders commented "We are very proud to have supported Lightpoint Medical in this financing round and delighted that they have secured this growth finance. We have always been very impressed by their talented and experienced team and their revolutionary and groundbreaking technology, which will be transformative in improving patient outcomes in cancer surgery. Our focus on Series A through to Growth means that we are able to support companies, like Lightpoint, to fulfil their potential."
James Sore, Fund Manager for FundTwenty8 and Chief Investment Officer of SyndicateRoom, commented "SyndicateRoom first invested in Lightpoint Medical in 2014 and we've been supporting David and his team's admirable progress ever since. We're delighted to be investing in Lightpoint Medical, especially at such an exciting stage of the business’s growth."
Dr David Tuch, CEO of Lightpoint Medical commented “We’re pleased to have secured this growth finance to prepare the company for commercial scale-up. In particular, it’s a pleasure to see the substantial number of our previous investors following on as well as to welcome our new shareholders. With this new funding, we’re looking forward to commercial launch of our laparoscopic probe which we believe will be game-changing for minimally invasive surgery.”
