Huger Medical Robotics (华匠医学机器人, henceforth referred to as Huger), a surgical robot developer, has raised tens of millions of yuan from a Series A+ round of financing, backed by Zhejiang Daily Press Group and Hangkai Group.
Proceeds from this round will be spent on recruiting more R&D personnel, improving product R&D and innovation capacity, accelerate product rollout and launches, as well as increase market share and brand reputation, according to a statement from Huger.
China’s surgical robot market has been growing by leaps and bounds over the years. According to market intelligence, the market size is expected to expand at a CAGR of 42.61% to 30 billion yuan (US$4.14 billion) in 2026 from 5.1 billion yuan in 2021.
And by 2032, it is forecast to reach a whopping 182.9 billion yuan.
Founded in July 2020 in Hangzhou by a group of clinical doctors and engineering experts, Huger is a high-tech startup focusing on the development, manufacturing and sale of modern intelligent medical equipment and devices.
Currently, most homegrown surgical robots are knockoffs of expensive imports like Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci system.
Nonetheless, most surgical robots that are adopted by Chinese hospitals often carry a prohibitive price tag and are used specially — and thus narrowly — for the most difficult procedures.
This leaves a vast number of ordinary operations unable to access the benefits afforded by surgical robots.
At the same time, China’s indigenous substitutes of imported surgical robots have already entered a price war, with their business models and sustainability awaiting a test by the market.
“The diverse nature of surgeries is the starting point of innovation,” said Feng Zailin, founder of Huger. “We say no to imitation and continue to come up with innovative products and solutions that align with tech trends and alleviate clinical pain points.”
To date, the startup has rolled out two Class-A products, has another two Class-B products approved for sale and given the greenlight to begin production.
Under China’s regulatory framework governing the registration of medical equipment, Class-A products are those that do not require regulatory approval, such as surgical gown and bandage gauze, while the Class-B category includes items in need of screening, like ultrasound scanner and X-ray scanner.
On top of these two types of products, Huger also has multiple new models in the pipelines, some already at the stage of engineering sample and type examination.
Technology-wise, thanks to a micro bionic arm, high-precision sensor and motion control, and human-machine interaction, Huger’s is a reconfigurable surgical robot system.
This means that its system offers a mix of options, catering to the clinical needs of doctors for single-incision, multi-port and human-machine collaborative procedures.
“We redefine surgical robots through tech innovation, and construct innovative minimally invasive devices and solutions that meet varied clinical needs through integrated, rapidly iterated robotic technologies and single-port surgical kit,” said Feng, the founder. “The ultimate goal is to let every surgeon use surgical robots and create a world with no hard-to-perform surgery.”
