08 May 2024
A spinout business at the University of Glasgow is celebrating after securing more than £3.2 million in grant and investment funding.
Nami Surgical said the double cash injection “marked a significant milestone” in its journey towards revolutionising surgical technologies.
The young company was started in December 2021 by entrepreneurial researchers Nico Fenu and Rebecca Cleary.
In that time, it has developed advances in cutting-edge ultrasonic surgical instrumentation for use in robotic-assisted surgery which it says are ready to go out to market.
The new funding has come in the form of a £2.5 million investment round and the successful award of an Innovation UK (IUK) grant of £702,432 under the Biomedical Catalyst 2023 Round 2: Industry-led R&D competition.
The investment funding is courtesy of EOS Advisory (£1.29m), Maven Capital (£635,000), SIS Ventures (£250,000) and Scottish Enterprise (£325,000).
Nico Fenu said: “This funding marks a significant milestone in our journey towards revolutionising ultrasonic surgical technologies and will significantly contribute to the development and realisation of our vision within the surgical field.
“Small investments, including by the University, and public grants have kept us going up until this point, but this is our first seed round which will allow us to move away from the University, hire ten more people, and take this technology forward and become profitable.
“We are delighted to have secured Scottish investors for this round and are grateful for their support and trust.”
Mel Anderson, Head of IP and Commercialisation at the University of Glasgow, said: “This funding round is a great achievement by the Nami team led by Nico Fenu. The company is commercialising innovation that will have a significant impact in the surgical field and ultimately benefit many patients worldwide.
“Nami is one of a growing number of spinout ventures commercialising innovations arising from research at the University of Glasgow.”
Innovate UK is investing up to £20 million in projects to support UK registered businesses to develop innovative solutions to address significant health or healthcare challenges.
The Biomedical Catalyst 2023 competition supports pre-market R&D projects where applicants are able to demonstrate existing evidence of commercial and technical feasibility.
Nico Fenu said: “Innovate UK funding and support will significantly contribute to the development and realisation of our vision within the surgical field.
“We understand it was a very competitive grant scheme, with more than 350 applications and only 30 applicants interviewed. We are extremely grateful that we were successful.”
Caption: Nami Surgical co-founders Nico Fenu and Rebecca Cleary.
