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01 June 2023

King's surgical AI spin-out Hypervision Surgical secures £6.5M seed investment

A spin-out company originally formed by clinicians, medical imaging and artificial intelligence (AI) experts at King’s has raised £6.5 million in seed investments to develop advanced technology for improved surgical and patient safety.

Hyperspectral Intelligence
Hyperspectral Intelligence

Hypervision Surgical Ltd (HVS), a MedTech spin-out from King's School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences (BMEIS), is harnessing AI and advanced imaging to create a platform for real-time tissue analysis in the operating theatre that aims to make surgeries more precise, safer and faster.

Thanks to the newly secured funding, HVS will accelerate the development of its cutting-edge vision technology and be used to attain regulatory clearance in the United States and Europe.

The company will expand collaborations with leading surgeons, renowned surgical centres, and strategic industry partners on both sides of the Atlantic to ensure a successful market launch and smooth integration into clinical practice. HVS is also set to complete UK clinical evaluation studies on colorectal and neurosurgery in the coming year to further enhance its evidence base and proof of concept.

We are incredibly excited about the transformative potential of our Hyperspectral Intelligence platform. Imagine a complex tumour surgery where surgeons can rely on precise measurements and tissue property information to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy tissue. Our technology makes the invisible visible, empowering surgeons to make confident decisions with enhanced precision and ultimately improving patient outcomes.

Dr Michael Ebner, CEO and co-founder of Hypervision Surgical

Hypervision Surgical, as one of the first commercial spin-outs from the St Thomas' MedTech Hub, marks an exciting milestone for King’s and points us towards future ways of working with MedTech Entrepreneurs. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the Hypervision Surgical team and express my gratitude to all those at King's who have supported this venture and contributed to its success. The innovative Hypervision Surgical technology holds tremendous potential to positively impact the lives of patients in the UK and beyond.

Professor Sebastien Ourselin, FREng, FMedSci, Head of School of BMEIS and Non-Executive Director, Hypervision Surgical

This latest successful bid for funding was supported by King’s IP & Licensing department, which specialises in driving new technology and commercialisation opportunities for spin-out companies such as HVS that have been created by King’s academics and researchers.

The funding round was led by a syndicate of highly experienced European and American HealthTech investors, including HERAN Partners, Redalpine, LifeX Ventures, and ZEISS Ventures, the corporate venture arm of the ZEISS Group – a global technology leader operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics.

In conjunction with the funding announcement, HVS has also welcomed Martin Frost CBE, Founder and former CEO of CMR Surgical, to its board of directors.

Frost has an extensive track record as a technology executive and director, having spent decades building and leading multiple companies, including through initial public offerings. Notably, he founded CMR Surgical in 2014 and swiftly scaled it into a globally recognised unicorn in the field of surgical robotics.

In recognition of his exceptional contributions to Robotics and the British Industry, Frost was honoured with a CBE in Queen’s Birthday Honours 2020.

HVS was founded by King’s researchers and clinicians:

  • Dr Michael Ebner, CEO Hypervision Surgical.
  • Professor Sebastien Ourselin, Head of School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences and Non-Executive Director, Hypervision Surgical.
  • Mr Jonathan Shapey, Consultant Neurosurgeon, Senior Clinical Lecturer and Clinical Lead at Hypervision Surgical.
  • Professor Tom Vercauteren, Interventional Image Computing at the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences and Chief Scientific Officer at Hypervision Surgical.

In this story

Professor Sebastien Ourselin FREng

Professor of Healthcare Engineering

tom-vercauteren

Professor of Interventional Image Computing

JShapey_Colour

Senior Clinical Lecturer in Neurosurgery