Keyinbot (嘉奥科技), a surgical robot startup, has announced the completion of a Series A+ round of funding valued at tens of thousands of yuan.
The round was backed solely by Shenzhen Investment Holdings Co Ltd, with the proceeds expected to go into new product R&D, clinical registration, distribution channel extension and global market expansion.
Founded in 2017, Keyinbot partners with a host of leading top-tier domestic hospitals. By combining medical science with engineering technology, the Shanghai-based firm focuses on the development of cutting-edge surgical robots and is dedicated to building the next-generation smart orthopedic surgical robot tailored to needs of the Chinese market and featuring high cost-efficiency.
Keyinbot’s latest robotic product, primarily adopted in spinal surgeries, have completed clinical trials and will go on sale shortly.
According to Keyinbot, this product can transform the entire spinal surgery process, thanks to innovations such as pre-operation autonomous planning, mid-surgery real-time 3D navigation, and assistive surgical pathway.
Notably, the robotic system stands out for its accuracy, with the margin of error reduced to less than 0.9mm, well ahead of domestic rivals, Keyinbot stated.
Despite its claims, Keyin faces stiff competition from domestic rivals like Tinavi (天智航, 688277.SH) and Yuanhua Technology (元化骨圣)
Registration of the company’s second-generation product is now also underway. Keyinbot advertises it as the country’s first fully homegrown, super-small-sized orthopedic robot.
The company has equipped it with multi-modal image-construction system, autonomous image-cutting technology, smart planning system, among others.
According to Keyin, the new product also departs from traditional domestic variants in terms of size, with a considerably reduced shape and weight. Its other features, such as binocular vision positioning system and robotic arms, help slash the production costs by more than 70%.
This will go a long way toward lowering the barrier to the robot’s mass adoption, Keyinbot notes, adding it will meet clinical needs across the public healthcare system and different provinces.
China’s public hospitals are divided into three levels, with second-tier and community hospitals ranking behind Class-A ones in this hierarchy.
“Currently, orthopedic surgical robots often cost over 10 million yuan (US$1.46 million) to import, only a few Class-A hospitals can afford them,” said Ma Kewei, founder of Keyinbot.
He added that the firm will leverage its own R&D strengths to lower the costs and deploy the products to more top- and second-tier hospitals, so as to satisfy more diverse clinical needs and allow a larger population of patients to experience the safety and efficacy of smart healthcare.
